


The Secrets We Keep

by Us_Alive



Series: The Ironfather [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Loki (Marvel), Adorable Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - Mob, Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Awkward Bruce Banner, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Tony Stark, Baby Peter Parker, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, But still Pepperony, Confused Steve Rogers, Cute Peter Parker, Dark Rhodey, Dark Tony Stark, Kid Peter Parker, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Kidnapped Tony Stark, M/M, Married Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Mob Boss Tony Stark, Nick Fury is Not Amused, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Pepper Potts Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Pepper Potts's Biological Child, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Pregnant Pepper Potts, Protective Ben Parker, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Science Bros, Stark Tower, Tony & Pepper are a mess, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Uncle Happy Hogan, but - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26868994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Us_Alive/pseuds/Us_Alive
Summary: “Who are all these people?” Pepper looked at the crowd forming around them.Tony flashed his million-dollar smile that always made Pepper melt. “Don’t worry about them Pep, it’s just business.”So, Pepper let it go. She shouldn’t have.Pepper's life was perfect. Tony was the perfect husband, gentleman and he made her feel like the luckiest woman alive. It was everything she dreamed of.But she soon finds out Tony's biggest secret. So she hides her biggest secret by running away. Problem is, Tony is not about to let her go.
Relationships: Ben Parker & Peter Parker, Ben Parker/May Parker (Spider-Man), Bruce Banner & Peter Parker, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Pepper Potts, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Natasha Romanov, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: The Ironfather [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028251
Comments: 195
Kudos: 502





	1. Two Truths and A Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiiiiiiiiii
> 
> I'm a mess and this is just for shits and giggles so let me know your thoughts and if I should continue this

Hindsight 20/20, Pepper wasn’t sure why she didn’t see the warning signs. When she walked into her first day of work as Tony Stark’s assistant, she had heard the rumors. That he was impossible to deal with. Erratic. Always trying to get himself killed. Watch out, he's dangerous. He gets into a ton of dangerous situations. But Stark Industries had always been a big name in weapons, which then turned into a big tech company. Pepper wanted to work her way up to the top; she dreamed of running a company of her own one day. And working for Stark Industries was a leg up from every other company. 

What she didn’t plan for, was to completely fall in love with her boss. She had heard he was a playboy, but under that facade, he was a loving and protective man. After working for him for years, she had gotten to know what she thought was the true side of him. After closed-door meetings that he would have with various men, (she was never told who they were or why they were there) he would always walk over to her with a big smile. When he danced with her, it felt so right. Like sunshine and daisies. And when he finally proposed to her, with the grand gesture of fireworks and an audience, she of course said yes. 

When she was younger, she used to play this game with other girls at sleepover parties. Two truths and a lie. They would share 2 true things and 1 lie, and they had to guess which was the lie. So Pepper had started playing this game with herself even as an adult. 

The night before her wedding to Tony Stark, she thought of her two truths and a lie:  
1\. She loved Tony Stark with all of her heart  
2\. She was going to marry Tony Stark  
3\. She was going to leave Tony Stark

She thought she would never ever want to leave Tony Stark. He was the perfect man, the perfect future husband.

At their wedding, there were many people who came up to them to congratulate them. To welcome her to ‘the famiglia’. These big, Italian men who Pepper had never seen before, nor did she remember inviting, were all lining up to talk to them. At one point, Pepper leaned over to Tony and whispered:

“Who are all these people?” Pepper looked at the crowd forming around them.

Tony flashed his million-dollar smile that always made Pepper melt. “Don’t worry about them Pep, it’s just business.”

So, Pepper let it go. She shouldn’t have.

\--

Three months after they returned from their romantic honeymoon in Venice, Pepper laid curled up next to Tony. She could feel his chest rise and fall with each breath he took. It was early morning, and the sun was just starting to peek through their shades in the Penthouse. It was mornings like these that she loved spending with her husband. Just the two of them, no work, just their naked bodies wrapped up together. 

Unfortunately, Pepper did not feel great that morning. For the last two weeks, she had been getting nauseous every morning when she woke up. Sometimes, she could keep it in. Other times, she had to overwhelmingly sprint to the bathroom and puke her brains out. Luckily, Tony was a heavy sleeper. She didn’t know why she felt so sick, but the last thing she wanted was for her husband to worry. He was always protective of her at all times, but when she was sick, he would hover. Baby her. And while she loved him, when she was sick, she always wanted to be alone. She didn’t need him to baby her. He would freak if she found out she was puking.

So, she quietly snaked out from Tony’s hold and made it just in time to puke into the toilet. As she puked for what felt like the 1000th time that morning, she thought about how this wasn’t normal. She made a mental note to make a doctor’s appointment for today.

After she flushed the toilet, she got ready for the day by brushing her teeth, taking a shower, and combing her hair. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Tony was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“Morning Mr. Stark.”

“Morning Mrs. Stark.” Tony smiled at his wife. He got out of bed and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. He swayed her a bit as if they were dancing.

“Remember our first dance?” Tony asked, looking into Pepper's soft eyes.

“Oh, you mean the one where you abandoned me on the rooftop?” Pepper’s voice had no real bite behind it.

“Yup,” Tony sighed contently.

“Sir,” Friday spoke. “You have men waiting to meet with you.” Pepper and Tony both sighed. It seemed like lately, Tony was always getting called into meetings early in the morning.

“We should both go get dressed,” Pepper noted.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to attend this meeting,” Tony commented, sifting through his closet for his suit.

“And why are they scheduling meetings with you so early? And who are they?” Pepper questioned, genuinely curious.

“Not important, they – “ Pepper cut her husband off.

“They must be, if they are trying to meet with you now and you’re actually going,” Pepper noted.

“Well, someone’s gotta run the family business,” Tony said seriously. “And besides, one day, our son will run the business. Then we won’t even have to deal with the interruption” Tony wagged his eyebrows.

“How do you know we will have a son?” Pepper folded her arms. She wanted a little girl. But she guessed a little boy would be cute too.

“I need a son to take over,” Tony responded as if it was the most logical thing in the world. His business partners were asking when he would have his son. Having his son would be critical for his business.

“Why can’t a girl take over!” Pepper responded angrily. If they had a daughter, she would never want her to be cut out of Stark Industries.

“There’s just a lot more to it. Honey, please don’t worry about this, okay?” Tony begged, wanting Pepper to let this go.

“Fine, but you promise we will have dinner tonight?” Pepper wanted just a night to themselves, without any interruptions from work.

“I should promise you and I will” Tony grinned, and leaned in to kiss his wife. Tony’s kisses always made Pepper melt. She could forget about the entire world when she was in her husband’s arms.

\--

After Tony dressed and went to his meeting, Pepper got ready for her day. Since she was now helping run SI, she too needed to be ready for her meetings. As she checked her schedule for the day, she realized she had a two-hour window for a doctor’s appointment. She quickly called up her doctor and was grateful that he could squeeze her in on such short notice.

Leading up to her appointment was uneventful. She met with product development about the new Stark Phone, and with marketing to discuss how they would advertise the new phone. As she was reviewing the final advertisement plans, Happy knocked on her door.

“Ready to go Mrs. Boss?” Since her marriage to Tony, Happy started calling her ‘Mrs. Boss’ since she was basically doing Tony's job. She didn’t fully know where Tony would run off to during the day sometimes, but she could handle all things business. This was her dream after all.

“Yes, thank you Happy.”

As they approached the car, Happy broke the silence;

“So why are we going to your doctors? You sick or something?” Happy nervously asked.

“No just a regular check-up,” Pepper lied. The last thing she wanted was for Happy to tattle to Tony before she knew what was going on. She was sure it was nothing and did not want her husband to worry. 

They drove to the doctor’s office in silence. Pepper looked out at all the buildings as they passed. She used to drive or walk herself, but when she started dating Tony, Tony insisted that Happy drove her everywhere. He had said it was what he paid Happy for, and he joked that Happy needed to earn his salary. 

But Pepper remembered the one time she had tried walking out of the building to grab a coffee, Friday locked the doors, preventing her from leaving. She and Tony got into a big fight about it. 

He said he was just trying to protect her. 

She yelled at him for being ridiculous. 

He told her how much she loved him.

She said he had to trust her.

He said that he did, but it was the world he didn’t trust. 

She told him there was nothing to worry about, that the coffee shop was in a safe area nearby.

He said that he had to protect the one thing he loved the most.

Pepper lost that argument, and had never driven or walked alone again. She shook the memory out of her head as they came to a stop in front of the doctor’s office.

“Want me to come inside?” Happy asked.

“No, just wait here,” Pepper responded as she stepped out of the car.

The doctor did his usual checks. Took her blood pressure. Checked her heart. Checked her ears and eyes. Pepper was only half paying attention when she realized the doctor was talking to her.

“Sorry what?” Pepper asked.

“You came in for nausea correct?” He asked patiently.

“Yes, that’s correct.” She answered.

“Can you describe it for me? How long has it been going on?” He asked.

“Well, let’s see. For the past two weeks. I usually wake up feeling nauseous. Sometimes I get sick, sometimes I don’t. Usually, it’s in the morning, but sometimes I feel nauseous after lunch.”

“And when was your last period?” He asked.

Oh my god. Pepper’s eyes widened. She had been so busy the past few weeks with work that she didn’t even realize her period was late. Like 3 or 4 weeks late. 

“Ummm, I think it’s late,” Pepper responded quietly.

“Let’s get you a pregnancy test, then we will go from there.”

Pepper peed on the stick in the bathroom then waited there. It was the longest two minutes of her life. How could she have forgotten that she didn’t get her period? Was she even ready to have a kid? Was Tony ready? Sure, they wanted kids, but maybe in a few years. She still wanted to be able to go out at night with Tony and go to dinner, rather than worry about diapers and breastfeeding.

Her alarm went off. She looked down at the stick.

Pregnant.

‘Oh my god’ Pepper thought, ‘I’m pregnant. What will Tony say? Will he be happy? We literally just talked about having a child this morning.’

Her doctor gave her a bunch of information and offered to schedule an appointment for her with an OBGYN. She declined, saying she needed to discuss it with her husband. She needed to make sure he was free for the first appointment.

As she walked back out to the car, she could see Happy was on the phone.

“I’ll call you back.” He quickly hung up and turned to her. “Done already?”

“Yea, let’s go home” She smiled. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to go surprise Tony with the announcement. She knew deep down, even though it was sooner than she expected, she was excited to start a family with her husband. They would be the perfect little family.

She dreamed about it on the car ride home. How she would soon be rocking her baby to sleep at night. How her husband would tell their baby stories, and how he would absolutely spoil their child. She smiled at the thought.

When they got inside the tower, Pepper and Happy walked in together without saying anything.  
“Friday,” Pepper questioned, “Where is my husband right now?”

“Oh that’s not such a good idea-“ Happy was interrupted by Friday.

“He is in conference room 38D.” Friday said emotionless.

“Thanks, Fri, take me there.” Pepper stepped into the elevator, and Happy quickly jumped in after her.

“Hey I think he’s in a meeting right now, we should not go-“ Happy was cut off yet again.

“I work for this company too you know.”

“I just don’t think Boss wants you to-“ Again, Happy was cut off.

“I’m the boss too Happy.” Pepper retorted and stepped out onto the floor. She hadn’t been up here before, usually Tony had meetings here with those men she didn't know.

She swung the door open and was not prepared for what she saw.

In the room was her husband with their friend Rhodey. There were also three big men she recognized from the wedding standing next to them. But what caught her attention were the two other men. They were tied up, with their arms and legs tied in the air. They were both covered in blood, and she could tell they were still bleeding out like crazy. They had bullet wounds that were oozing blood from their legs and from their lower chest. She noticed one of the men was not attached to his arm anymore, and a bloody saw was lying on the ground not too far from her husband. The other man was missing an eye, and she spotted the missing eye lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Her husband was holding a gun, as was Rhodes. The three big men were holding bloody knives. Tony’s eyes were black, filled with rage and anger that Pepper had never seen before.

Pepper stood there with her mouth agape. What was happening?

“Finish this,” Tony barked to Rhodey. Why the hell was Pepper in here?

Tony walked over to his wife and pulled her out of the conference room to the elevator.

“You aren’t supposed to see that.”

“What the HELL were you doing?!” Pepper cried out. “Why were those men tied up and why were you hurting them?”

“They are bad men Pepper. They wanted to lock me up, take me away from you.” Tony growled.

“Boss I tried to stop her from- “Happy was cut off once again.

“We will talk later.” Tony spat out. He was pissed that Happy let his wife just walk in on this, Happy knew better than to let Pepper onto this floor. Pepper stifled a sob.

“Please don’t hurt Happy,” Pepper begged. Tony’s eyes softened. He didn’t want to scare his wife. He took her hand and led her out of the elevator and to the couch, leaving Happy behind in the elevator.

“I would never,” Tony promised. Tony noticed how Pepper was shaking. “Hey, sweetheart it’s alright.”

“How is it alright? You were torturing two men!” Pepper sobbed.

“It’s part of the job,” Tony said emotionless.

“What? Stark industries is not a company that murders people! We don’t make weapons anymore!”

“But the Stark family business does,” Tony stated matter of fact.

“What?” Pepper was shocked. What was he talking about?

“I kept it hidden from you long enough. I guess now you know enough, I might as well tell you the rest. I run the Stark mob.” Tony explained.

“The mob?” Pepper asked in disbelief.

“Yes Pepper,” Tony said, “I’m the Boss. Like mob boss kind of boss. Stark Industries is a front for the Stark mob family, most people know that, I’m surprised you didn’t realize sooner. But that’s one of the things I love about you.” Tony smiled at her and reached out to touch her face. But she pulled back.

“So you kill people?”

“We have to, that’s part of it.”

“And you don’t see what’s wrong with that?” Pepper worried she already knew the answer.

“No, we do what we have to so that we can grow, build our empire you see.”

“But this is insane, Tony how could you keep this from me?”

“Would you have married me if you knew?”

“Probably not,” Pepper muttered honestly.

“See? Exactly why I didn’t. I wanted you so bad, and I would have done anything to get you. And I still would do anything for you. I love you Pepper; I only do this to protect us.”

“Protect us? Why not just quit, leave this insanity?”

“I could never,” Tony scoffed. “My father built this empire, and I have to continue on the legacy. That’s what I was born to do as a Stark. I had to live on the legacy.”

Pepper shuttered at that. But then she thought about their baby. The one she just found out about. The one she was about to tell Tony about until she found out his secret. How could she bring a child into this world? She couldn’t picture raising her son or daughter in this fucked up world. How could she be okay with having a child born for the sole purpose to kill for their father’s company?

“But you could leave, can’t you?” Pepper asked, with what little hope she had left.

“That’s not how it works.” Tony shook his head. He would never want to leave the mob. He made so much money from his illegal business, way more than Stark Industries brought in. And, he felt so powerful when he killed. When he tortured an enemy, he felt on top of the world.

“Listen, I know this is a lot to take in, but it feels good to get this off my chest,” Tony paused. “I hate to run out, I know we have a lot to talk about, but I need to get back downstairs.” With that, he leaned over to kiss her cheek, then got up and left.

Pepper took a shaking breath. In all honesty, she was terrified. She was pregnant with her husband’s baby, who turned out to be a murderer. How did she not see the warning signs? She should have known, should have done her research. But it was too late, she was going to have a baby with this man, and her baby would become a killer.

Unless she left. But she could never escape. He would never let her leave, and Friday would stop her anyways. But she had to leave. She didn’t want her baby growing up in this. Now that she knew the truth, she didn’t even think she could stay. She loved Tony, she really did, but how could she live here, knowing what goes on downstairs. Those bloody bodies would haunt her for the rest of her life. She was not going to subject her child to that. 

\--  
Pepper had to give herself credit, she had played the role of happy wife for the past three weeks after finding out she was pregnant with her mob boss husband’s child. She happily cuddled up to her husband, cooked dinner with him, watched movies, and kissed him back. While she still loved him, she was now terrified of him. She thought of the game she used to play and played another round.  
1\. I’m pregnant  
2\. My husband is in the mafia, yet I still love him  
3\. I’m staying with him

Since the day she found out the truth, Pepper started planning her escape. Pepper had planned it all out. She discretely hired someone to make her the fake documents that would help her disappear. “Mary Fitzpatrick” was her new name on her new birth certificate, that she kept tucked away in the bottom of her purse. After getting all the needed documents to live her new fake life, all she needed was an escape. And she found one. 

She asked Happy to take her to this new coffee shop. She heard they had fair trade coffee that was to die for. Happy grumbled about it being across town, but he still agreed to take her. Not like he had much choice. He still didn’t forgive himself for letting Pepper go inside the conference room. So anything he could do to win back Tony's trust he would do. And Tony had specifically ordered Happy to make sure Pepper was happy. Happy dropped her off to get coffee and told her that he would wait in the car just outside the coffee shop.

She entered the coffee shop, just to walk through its back door. It was a new place after all, and Happy had no time to investigate its safety. He had no time to find out that there was another entrance onto another busy New York street.

She walked out the back door and didn’t look back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated!!!
> 
> Also, since I already kinda spoiled it with the tags, Peter is going to be their kid in the story (sorry Morgan), how old do you want to see him as? Do you want him to be a little baby, or already a teenager?


	2. Just Me and You, and Ironman Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We jump back and forth to see how Pepper and Tony are living their lives apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow!!!! Thank you all for the kind comments and suggestions! It's so exciting to see what people have to say, I've really enjoyed reading your comments and want to take them into consideration as I write.
> 
> I've seen a mix of requests for Baby Peter/Kid Peter and Teenage Peter. I'm working on trying to find a way to incorporate multiple age ranges and will continue to take suggestions as to what age you want to see.

“What do you mean she’s not in the coffee shop?” Tony gritted out. What the fuck did Happy do?

“Sir she must have gone out the other exit.” Happy said into his phone as he looked outside the other entrance Pepper must have slipped through. 

“What the FUCK were you doing? I pay you to watch my wife, and she disappears?” Tony yelled into the phone, and pulled his jacket on, and grabbed the keys to his Audi. 

“Boss, I’m so sorry-“

“Sorry won’t cut it unless you FIND MY WIFE YOU DUMBASS,” Tony screamed into his phone.

“Sir-“ Tony did not let him finish.

“Call in everyone who can be discrete about this. We need to find her. Someone must have taken her to piss me off. And I’ll kill whoever took her away from me.” Tony snarled.

“But sir, what if she wasn’t kidnapped?”

“What the FUCK are you talking about?!” Tony was pissed that Happy could accuse such a thing.

“Well, it's just, this is a new coffee place, she never goes here. I just, am worried that she planned this.” Happy spoke softly, fear laced in his voice. He was trembling thinking about what his boss would do to him.

“We. Will. Find. Her. She is NOT leaving me.” Tony snapped. “You and I both know, that’s not how marriage works in our world. Until death do us part. There’s no leaving me. I will NEVER let her go.”

Happy shuddered, in fear for himself, but mainly in fear for Pepper. The way Tony was talking reminded him of how he used to be before Pepper. When he was erratic and bloodthirsty. Before Pepper, he was a lot less careful and unpredictable. Pepper had seemed to calm him down, but without her, the old tendencies were back in full force.

Tony was about to start up again at yelling at Happy when there was a knock on his office door.

“Find her before I get down there,” Tony ordered, then promptly hung up the phone. He turned his attention to the door.

“Yes?” He said with hostility.

“It’s Nat.” Pepper’s assistant. 

After Tony made Pepper co-CEO of Stark Industries with him, she hired Natasha as her assistant. Originally, she had said her name was Natalie. Turns out, she was working for SHIELD, and her mission was to take down the Stark Empire. Tony was all but ready to kill her at the time, but she proposed a deal that saved her life. She was a trained assassin and could protect Pepper. And, for a reasonable salary, she was willing to lie to the US government, SHIELD, and every other government body interested in the Stark empire and would convince them that Tony was not doing any criminal activity, all while remaining as Pepper’s bodyguard. Turns out, she was incredibly loyal to the Stark family. She was deadly too. When they needed an extra hand dealing with a rival mob, she was always Tony’s go-to. And she was incredibly discrete. Pepper thought Nat was just her assistant. Pepper had no idea Nat could kill someone with her bare hands.

“Get in here,” Tony called out, and Nat quickly entered, shutting the door behind her. “You better know where my wife is.”

“Isn’t she out for coffee with Happy?” Nat looked at him and noticed the rage plastered across his face.

“And you just let them go?!” Tony couldn’t hold back his anger.

“You know, I’ve been busy cleaning up some of your messes. Do you remember Stefanos? The guy you killed last week for trying to steal your car? I’ve been busy clearing your DNA from that evidence and getting rid of the body. Pepper is safe with Happy” Nat stated. 

“Obviously I don’t remember,” Tony rolled his eyes. “I kill too many people to remember why I killed each one. But the point is, she’s not with Happy.” Tony grunted out.

“What?” Nat asked with shock.

“Turns out, the new coffee shop has a back entrance, and she’s gone. Happy, the terrific bodyguard that he is, had no idea until 15 minutes after she went inside. The dumbass had no idea she was gone.” 

Tony looked down at his lap, trying to hold back the tears. He was angry, but mostly, he was worried. What if one of his enemies took her? What if they hurt the love of his life? He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her. Did she mean to leave? Or is she lost? Why would she have left him though? They were so happy, and she hadn’t shown any signs of fear after she found out the truth of the Stark mob. 

“We will find her,” Nat tried to reassure Tony, “I won’t stop looking for her.”

“Neither will I.”

\--

Pepper had never been to Queens. Tony had always referred to it as a dump. He said it had nothing to offer, which is why Pepper had never been there. Despite her fears, it was the only place she could afford. With only 5 grand in her purse and no access to any of her savings, she had to start over. Becoming Mary meant a fresh start, and she had to get used to that. She knew she would have to find a job, something that paid enough to get benefits but not too much to draw any attention to her. No one could find her. No one.

As she stood in her new tiny one-bedroom apartment in Queens, she touched her stomach. Her baby was in there. Hers. And she was determined that she would be able to give him or her a good life. Away from the mob, they would be safe together. 

After being here for almost a week, she had started to get some furniture. Used and cheap, it was all she could afford. She missed the plush couch she and Tony had in the penthouse, but she refused to let herself think about it. When she thought about Tony, all she could do was cry. She took a deep breath and went back to decorating her apartment. As she was rearranging her sofa, she heard a knock on the door.

‘Oh god, they didn’t find me, did they?’ Pepper thought worriedly, her heart started beating faster. She looked through the peephole to see a woman and a man she had never seen before. She hesitated on answering it when she noticed they had a loaf of some kind of bread in their hands.

If there’s one thing Pepper noticed about her pregnancy, she was hungry all the time.

She opened the door and looked at the man and woman. The woman had long straight brown hair and had a big smile that reached her eyes. Seeing her smile, made Pepper smile. The man also had brown hair and his smile was just as warm as hers.

“Hi,” Pepper said. “Can I help you?”

“Hi,” The woman started, “My name is May Parker, this is my husband Ben, we live across the hall and wanted to come say hello. We saw you moved in last week.”

“Oh yea I did,” Pepper smiled genuinely, “I’m uh Mary.” It was still weird to say that. “Mary Fitzpatrick.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mary,” Ben held out his hand, and Pepper shook it. She then shook May’s hand.

“It’s so nice to finally have a young neighbor across the hall. Most of the people that live here are old and boring.” May laughed as she spoke. To Pepper, she seemed like a genuinely happy person. 

“Well hopefully that means it’s a quiet building?“ Pepper asked, hoping it would be true. The less social the building was, the less risk there was of anyone in the mob finding her and her baby.

“Ha I wish,” Ben rolled his eyes. “A lot of the old-timers can’t hear their grandchildren on the phone and yell into it. And it’s always at 6 am on a Saturday, who calls their grandchildren at 6 am?”

“That’s actually kind of funny,” Pepper let out a soft laugh. It was soft, but it wasn’t forced.

“Oh, and before we forget, we made you a walnut date loaf.” May held out the dish, and Pepper took it.

“Wow that’s so kind of you, thank you!” Pepper smiled, ready to eat half of it since she was so hungry. “I would invite you in but my place is a mess…” Pepper opened the door fully to reveal the scattered boxes with furniture.

“Oh nonsense. You’re still getting settled. If you want, you should come over for dinner sometime!” May grinned, she was happy to finally have a neighbor around her and her husband’s age.

“Yes, you should!” Ben quickly agreed. May and Ben had the same thought. Mary seemed like a nice woman, and they could use more friends in the building.

“Wow you are both so kind, really thank you. Moving here I was so worried I would be lonely, but now I don’t think I will be.”

“Duh, we will knock on your door and bug you to come over.” May grinned, excited to get to know her new neighbor. Pepper grinned back.

“Where did you move from?” Ben asked.

“Upstate,” Pepper responded. Her birth certificate said she was born in Albany, so it made it easier for her to just stick with that. Small town girl who grew up outside of Albany and dreamed of going to the big city finally made it.

“Where upstate? It’s so beautiful up there.” Ben asked.

“Just outside of Albany.”

“How nice,” May commented. But then her phone rang. “Oh I gotta take this, it’s the hospital. It was so nice meeting you, come over soon okay!” 

“Yes, please come over anytime.” Ben smiled softly at her.

“Will do, thank you both.” Pepper smiled and waved, then closed the door. 

\--  
“You find her?” Tony’s head snapped up when he heard the door to his office open.

Rhodey, Tony’s consigliere, shook his head. “No,” he said solemnly. 

“FUCK!” Tony slammed his hands on the desk.

“We need to do more,” Rhodey suggested.

“We do,” Tony agreed. But what more could they do?

\--

“And you’ll never guess what this guy had stuck up his butt,” May laughed and didn’t wait for Pepper to guess, “An apple!!!! I’m telling you, being a nurse is rewarding, but people sure are weird.”

Pepper laughed and touched her stomach. After a few months, she had really gotten to know the Parkers. They were fantastic neighbors and even better friends. She told them what she could tell them, about how she was starting a new life here in Queens. She even told them that she was expecting. And they were supportive. May excitedly told her about being a nurse at a hospital nearby and promised to make sure she would have one of the less creepy doctors help her deliver. They spent their free time together, just hanging out and watching movies in the Parker apartment. With all the changes in Pepper's life, she was most grateful for the Parkers. She became so close with them after these few months of living in Queens, that she felt like they were her family.

“You know,” Ben broke their fits of giggles, “We aren’t able to have kids.”

Pepper looked at him with raised eyebrows, what was he implying?

“I think what Ben means,” May caught Pepper’s confused look, “is that while we only just started to get to know you, we would be happy to help you and your baby. I’m sure it’s scary knowing you’re bringing a baby into this world alone, but we can support you. We are always here for babysitting.”

“Exactly,” Ben stated. “We want to be a part of your baby’s life; at whatever capacity you feel comfortable with, Mary.”

“Wow,” Pepper started to tear up, overwhelmed by the love she felt, “that means so much to me, thank you.”

“Please, thank you. We always wanted kids, but we couldn’t.” Ben said, with a hint of sadness in his voice. 

“Are you going to get maternity leave?” May asked. After Pepper had moved here, she immediately looked for a job. She quickly landed a job as an administrative assistant. Back to square one. It reminded her of her first few days of working for Tony.

“Yea, I get 12 weeks.” Pepper sighed. She knew if she had stayed with Tony, she could have taken all the time in the world to be with her baby. She wouldn’t of had to work ever again. But at what price if her baby had to grow up to become a mobster and kill people?

“Hey, that’s pretty good! Have you thought about what you’re going to about child care?”

“Umm… no” Pepper looked down, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. What was she thinking? She couldn’t raise a baby as a single mother.

“Like we said, we want to help,” May stated. “And we really mean it. You know I work mostly evening into night shifts at the hospital, right? I can watch the baby during the day when you’re back at work.”

“Oh my god, you would do that?”

“Obviously! Anything for my little godson or goddaughter.” May grinned.

“Niece or nephew.” Pepper stated.

“What?” Ben looked puzzled.

“You’re going to be way more than just godparents to the baby. You’re the only family I have. I want you to be Aunt May and Uncle Ben.”

“You mean that?” May started tearing up.

“Of course, I do,” Pepper said, “You’re both going to be so important to him or her.”

May pulled Pepper into a hug, and they both cried. Finally, Pepper felt like she had done something right for her baby. Her baby might never know their real father, but May and Ben would be even better role models. 

She just wished the Parkers would be enough for her little family. After she left the Parker apartment and crawled into her bed, Tony was all she could think about. Despite the dangerous man that he was, she missed him like crazy. She could only wonder whether or not he was okay. Was he missing her as much as she missed him? Because she thought, no, she knew she would miss him forever.

\--

Tony stumbled into their bedroom in the Penthouse. It had been months. Months. And no leads. Currently, he was hammered and an absolute mess. He had hoped it would help him forget the pain. If anything, it only made it worse. He missed his wife every waking moment. He even missed her in his sleep. How could he have ever taken her for granted? He missed the way she used to kiss his cheek before bed. He missed the way she would curl up into his side. He missed holding her, dancing with her, being with her. He was completely lost without her. 

Missing her came in waves. Tonight, he was drowning.

\--

The next morning, Pepper woke up in a cold start. She wrapped the blankets up around her but still shivered. She thought about the only thing she wanted that morning. 

Tony.

She imagined being wrapped up in his arms, cozy and safe. She wished she could be tangled up in their silk sheets right now, bodies pressed up against one another. She just wanted him to hold her, to be able to kiss his cheek and feel his goatee tickle her skin. She missed being able to run her fingers through his hair. She missed how in the morning, he would wrap his strong arms around her, and hold her. She thought back to the times when she would try to get up, but he would tighten his grip and mutter for her to stay. Right now, she wished she did.

Suddenly, she felt the baby kick. She sat up, startled. The baby had never kicked before. Feeling the soft thump against her ribs, she cried. At that moment, it really sunk in that she was having a baby.

And she was going to love this kid more than anything.

\--  
“Wake up Tones,” Rhodey shook his friend’s shoulders.

“Go way,” Tony muttered into his pillow. He was so hungover, all he wanted to do was sleep all day. 

“Common man, you gotta wake up, do something productive.” Rhodey was worried about Tony. Tony had become even more ruthless after Pepper disappeared, but when he wasn’t working, he was an absolute disaster. Drinking all the time. Holing himself up in his lab, doing god knows what.

“No.”

“I won’t leave until you’re up.”

“Fuck off,” Tony growled and turned his head into the pillow. Rhodey yanked the sheets off of Tony.

“Common, up up up,” Rhodey pulled Tony up into a sitting position, and Tony sighed. 

“Ugh, are you seriously making me get up?” Tony rubbed his aching head. “What are you, my mother?”

“Sometimes it feels like I am,” Rhodey confessed. He paused and looked at his friend “Man this isn’t healthy.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Tony spat out.

“We are all worried about you, Tones.” 

“If you were that worried, you would have found my wife by now,” Tony muttered.

“We are trying!” Rhodey raised his voice. “But we’ve all had to babysit you to make sure you don’t kill yourself doing something reckless. Common man, think about it. You could be helping us by at least taking care of yourself.” 

“That wouldn’t help find her,” Tony grumbled.

“Well do you have any ideas? You’re the smartest one here, and yet you haven’t used that big brain of yours. We could use more men on the ground looking for her, but you don’t trust anyone. We need more eyes to look all over the place.”

Just then, Tony’s eyes widened.

“That’s it,” Tony spoke.

“Finally, I’ll call more men.” Rhodey went to leave, but Tony stopped him.

“No,” Tony spoke, “we don’t need more people per se, just more intelligence. A way to look by air. Something that can do more than just a man. Something smarter than a man”

“What are you talking about Tones?” Rhodes asked. Tony looked his consigliere dead in the eye.

“Ironman.”

\--

Pepper sat in the waiting room of her OBGYN. It was her last appointment before she was expected to give birth. She was insanely nervous. When the doctor called her in, she laid down for the ultrasound.

When her baby showed up on the screen, her heart skipped a beat. 

Her baby. She couldn’t wait to hold him or her.

“So, you decided not to find out the sex of the baby?” The doctor asked, not really remembering her file. He saw so many patients in a day he didn’t really have time to remember any of them.

“Yea, I want it to be a surprise,” Pepper spoke sweetly, never taking her eyes off of her baby on the screen.

“Lots of parents are like that for their first time,” the doctor commented. “Do you have names picked out?”

“If it’s a girl, I want to name her Morgan.” Pepper smiled, thinking of her eccentric uncle Morgan. She loved that name for a girl. “If it’s a boy, I think I’m leaning towards Peter.”

“Very well, just be prepared to provide the name at the hospital for the birth certificate. It’s a hassle to go back and get those forms filled out afterward.”

“Okay, thank you, Doc,” Pepper’s smile faded as her baby disappeared from the monitor. The doctor didn’t even warn her that he was stopping the ultrasound, or that he would promptly get up and leave.

“I’ll see you again soon little one,” Pepper muttered to her baby, who kicked back.

\--  
“Alright, this is what, test number 112?” Tony spoke out. He was in his lab, surrounded by the armor he had been working on for the past few months. It was now mid-July, and he was getting impatient. He was so close.

“Yes sir,” Friday spoke.

“Alright, commencing test number 112.” Tony stood back, and the armor wrapped around him.

He moved his arms and legs around. Success.

He tested the lasers, the repulsors, the missiles, the minigun. Success. 

He put his hands down and propelled himself in the air to fly. Success.

His bots fired a round of bullets at his chest. He looked down and saw no damage. Success.

He stepped out of the armor seamlessly. Success.

He turned on the remote operator and tested all the same functions. Success.

Tony grinned. Ironman was born.

\--

On August 10th, Pepper went into the hospital as Mary Fitzpatrick and gave birth to a baby boy. 

She held her baby, and she knew she did the right thing all along. This pain and suffering from leaving her husband was worth it for this small, delicate, and beautiful little boy. 

He was perfect. He had tufts of light brown hair that stuck out in every direction and curled on the end. His small fists were bunched up into the blanket Pepper had carefully wrapped around her baby. As he slept, he puffed out these small yet deep little baby huffs of air. And most notably, he was the spitting image of Tony.

“Peter Benjamin,” Pepper whispered to her sleeping baby, “I love you more than words could ever say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the jumping back and forth between Tony and Pepper wasn't so confusing.
> 
> Before I continue, I want to know, do you want to see Tony and Pepper end up together? Or should they stay apart?
> 
> Leave a comment and let me know!!!


	3. Tasteful Art With a Triple Agent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have LOVED reading your comments!! You all have so many good ideas!! A few of you must be able to read my mind because some of your comments have literally been some of the things I have thought about writing. I feel like there are lots of different directions I can go, so I'm still trying to decide how to incorporate all the things I want to happen to this little fam.
> 
> This chapter features baby Peter (around 4 months old if I did my math correct), but I do not plan on him staying a baby for long. So those who wanted an older Peter, stay tuned!

It was on every channel. The whole world was watching. Everyone was waiting for the secret that had captured the world's attention to be unmasked.

“Our top story tonight, Tony Stark, head of Stark Industries and alleged mobster is addressing a live audience today. For more information, we take you to Jessica Jones. Jessica?”

“Yes Edward, I am here now at Stark Tower where Mr. Stark is about to make an announcement. We have reason to believe Mr. Stark will be denying allegations that he is in fact Ironman. Sources have seen the suit flying around the city, with many speculating that Tony Stark is the man in the can.” Jessica paused and turned to see Tony Stark and James Rhodes walk on stage. “There is Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes now!”

Tony and Rhodey walked up to the stage, with Rhodey taking the mic. The cameras zoomed in on Tony as he strolled up to the podium looking bored. Rhodey shot him a warning look then took a deep breath. He adjusted his tie and cleared his throat.

“Good afternoon everyone,” Rhodey greeted as he scanned the crowd for any threats or rivals. None. “Thank you for being here. I am joined here today with my good friend, Tony Stark, who has an important announcement for the entire world.”

“Thanks, Rhodey,” Tony started, “There’s been a lot of speculation about whether or not I am Ironman, and the truth is…” 

Tony paused. He thought about Pepper. What Pepper might say or tell him to do. Maybe what she wanted all along was honesty. And maybe she was watching right now. And maybe, he could finally do something right by her and tell her the truth upfront.

“I am Ironman.”

The room exploded in chaos.

\--

Peter waved his little chubby arms in the air. Pepper smiled down at her little baby and hovered her hand above Peter’s hand. He wrapped his hand around her finger and smiled sweetly.

“Mommy loves you,” She cooed, and leaned down and kissed his face over and over again. Peter’s laughter bubbled out and filled the room.

Pepper had been doing this for the past 4 months. Her baby was 4 months old now. She couldn’t believe it. Time was going by so quickly. His first smile, the first time he held his head up on his own, his first laugh, all in the past. Those sweet moments went by so quickly, she was scared to miss another moment. She had been back at work for about a month now, not because she wanted to, but because she had to. Luckily, it was almost Christmas, and she would get some time off to be with Peter. 

Pepper was so content watching her Peter that she barely registered the sound of the door jingling open. 

“Mary?” Pepper turned to see May enter her apartment. She had given the Parkers a key to her place since May was now watching Peter during the day while she worked. May and Ben had been fantastic. May was so good with Peter, it was clear that Peter adored her. He would always coo and wiggle around excitedly whenever he saw her. Peter must have heard her voice just then because he kicked his feet out and tried to roll over. He was still working on that skill. When he realized he couldn't do it, he huffed out in frustration then grabbed his foot and brought it up towards his mouth.

“In the bedroom with Pete,” Pepper called back out to her friend.

“Awwww,” May walked up next to Pepper and looked down at Peter on the bed. Peter looked over to the voice and gurgled when he saw May. “His Christmas onesie is adorable!”

“Thanks, I just got it!” Pepper smiled. She loved this onesie too. The little feet had little reindeer on the bottom, and Peter seemed to love them too. Pepper quickly realized that her son loved warm fuzzy things. But what he loved more was attention. He loved to be held and talked to and would cry if Pepper put him down before he had fully fallen asleep.

Just then he made a soft whimpering noise, and Pepper immediately scooped him up. He leaned into his mother, seeking the comfort and warmth she always provided. He rested his head against her chest, and let out a deep breath of air. His sighs reminded her of Tony.

“Anyways, Ben and I got him a Christmas present,” May smiled, and held out a bag. “I know it’s not much, but it’s the #1 toy this season.” 

When she had been with Tony, she had always stayed on top of the latest and greatest trends. Not necessarily baby trends, but she figured that if she had stayed with Tony, she would have had the time to worry about baby trends. Back then, trends had been important to her. Now, all she cared about was getting to spend time with Peter. 

After Peter was born, she realized all the things she had once had, all the luxurious and expensive items, were worthless. The most valuable thing couldn’t be bought. They weren't things. They were feelings. They were moments and memories filled with love.

Pepper sat down on the bed and shifted Peter into the crook of one arm and unwrapped the present. She pulled out the red and gold plushie. 

It was Ironman.

“It’s all the rage these days, what with Ironman flying around the city. Kids are obsessed, I had to fight some crazy mom to get the last one,” May smiled triumphantly.

Pepper forced out a smile. She had seen the news. Everyone had. Ironman, New York’s newest protector. Or so they thought. In the back of her mind, she asked herself why Tony really created Ironman. Was it a distraction? Or part of some plan? The statistics showed that Ironman had decreased mafia-related crime all over the city. Probably because every rival mob of Tony’s was too terrified of Ironman to do anything.

Peter reached out with both hands to grab the Ironman plushie from his mom. He held it in his hands and looked at it for a long time. Pepper had never seen him so focused on one thing for so long. Peter then wrapped his chubby arms around his Ironman and held it close to him.

“Awww I think he likes it,” May commented and brushed one of Peter’s curls back. “Who knows, maybe it’ll be his new favorite toy!”

“Yea, maybe,” Pepper wondered how Peter could be so much like the father he never met.

“Also,” Pepper looked up and saw May holding her hands behind her back, “I got you, well, all of us, a gift. But it didn’t cost me anything!”

May stretched out her hands to reveal 4 tickets.

“What is it?” Pepper looked at the tickets. The MoMA Christmas Special tickets for tonight. “How did you know I liked modern art?”

“Oh common! Ben loves Modern art too; you both have literally talked about Jackson Pollock for hours.”

“How did you even get these? I heard they were impossible to get!”

“I told you about Filipe, right? He’s the doctor at my hospital that I always gossip with. His husband works for MoMA. And obviously, he knows all about you since we talk all the time and he thought it would be fun for all of us. He said he couldn’t wait to make me go and suffer. He and I both don’t fully get modern art, but obviously, we gotta support our husbands’ passion.”

“And Peter can come?”

“Uh, duh! That’s why there are 4 tickets!”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” Pepper paused, “Oh, but wait!” 

Pepper shot up from where she was sitting on the bed and handed Peter to May. May instinctively wrapped her arms around her nephew, who wiggled excitedly to be in his favorite aunt’s arms.

May looked up to see Pepper holding a box.

“I was going to give this to you on Christmas, but since you gave me early gifts, I want you to have this now. And sorry I didn’t wrap it.” She handed over the box, and May handed back Peter, who eagerly grabbed his mother’s shirt with his tiny fist.

May opened it up, to find a framed photo of her and Ben sitting on their living room couch. May was holding Peter who was bundled up in a fuzzy blue blanket. He was smiling up at them, and May was smiling back at Peter. Ben had his arm draped around his wife’s shoulders, and was smiling at May. You could see the love in Ben’s eyes as he watched his wife hold their nephew.  
May hugged the picture to her chest.

“I love it!” She cried out and pulled Pepper into a hug. “Thank you Mary!” 

“You do? Good, it’s the least I could do for you and Ben. You both do so much for me.”

“Oh stop, you know we larb you and Pete tons,” May stated.

“Aww, I larb you both too.”

\--

“You gotta admit, Ironman is working! Our rivals aren’t trying to fight us, if anything, we are doing so much the city.” Tony exclaimed with his arms stretched out.

Nat rolled her eyes.

“That’s what PR has been trying to push, that Ironman is good for the city. You better keep up that image,” Nat reprimanded, “because this is barely believable.”

“What’s not believable about it?” Tony shot back, “I’m patrolling Ironman remotely all throughout the city, and none of the other mobs have been dumb enough to challenge me.”

“For one? You’re a mobster and everyone knows it. And two, you’re literally just looking for Pepper.” Nat commented.

“So? Kill two birds with one stone.”

“So, are you actually going to help people? Because eventually, other families won’t be afraid of you,”

“Find Pepper first,” Tony looked down at their wedding picture on his desk. He couldn’t believe it had been almost a year without her. It was killing him. 

“You know I haven’t stopped looking for her,” Nat said quietly.

“Neither have I,” Tony looked up at Nat, his eyes bright with tears.

“Tony?”

“Yea?”

“If you find her, what are you going to do?” Nat asked, her voice laced with fear.

“I would never hurt her, god did you really think I would?”

“No, it’s just – “

“I need her back Nat,” Tony cried out, “I can’t live without her.”

“Tony you can’t just force her to be with you if she doesn’t want to.”

“No, she loves me, I know it.” Tony looked down at the wedding photo again. They both looked so happy staring into each other’s eyes. There wasn’t a shred of doubt in Tony’s mind that he still loved Pepper. With everything he had. 

“Love and fear are very different.”

“She doesn’t fear me,” Tony scoffed at the idea.

“She didn’t until she learned your secret.”

“What? That I’m in the mob?”

“She fell in love with a lie, can you blame her?”

“I love her, that was NEVER a lie.” Tony was starting to get mad.

“I’m not doubting that, but you hid something that was very important. Lifechanging information like this isn’t something easy to see past.”

“She loved me before, I’m still the same man as I was before she knew my secret.”

“But in her eyes, you aren’t. She knows the truth now, and she doesn’t trust you.”

“Wow thanks for the help Dr. Phil,” Tony deadpanned.

“I’m just trying to set up your expectations. We may never find her.” Nat commented.

“No!" Tony slammed his fists on his desk. "We will never stop until we find her. She is everything.”

“I know,” Nat sighed. She felt bad for Tony. She and everyone else close enough to Tony could feel his pain.

“Sorry, I know I always bring her up,” Tony was always afraid of showing his biggest weakness. But with Nat or Rhodey or Happy, he couldn't help it. They were the only people he could trust, and he was in so much pain. Without Pepper, he could barely breathe. The pain swallowed him whole, and those three were the only pain meds that could take some pain away. If only for a moment.

“Listen,” Nat hated having the change the topic knowing how agitated Tony got when Pepper was mentioned, but it was past 5pm. “I gotta go, I have tickets to MoMA’s Christmas Special.”

“How’d you swing that?” Tony smirked, trying to forget the tidal wave of sadness. 

“Well, when you work for Tony Stark people are afraid to say no.”

“You bet they are,” Tony laughed. “Have fun, Triple Agent.”

“I will, try and enjoy yourself for once yea?” Nat smiled at the door.

“I will once Pepper is home.”

\--

Pepper was so happy that May did this for them. Standing here in MoMA was such a nice change of pace compared to staying in Queens doing nothing. Not that she didn’t like just spending time with her son, but getting out and getting to feel like an adult again was really nice. It also helped that Peter was fast asleep, cuddling his Ironman plushie. Pepper had tried to take the toy from him before they left to meet May and Ben to catch the subway, but Peter screamed the second she tried to take it away. At least he was happy and not screaming in MoMA. 

“Did you know one of Pollock's paintings sold for $140 million a while back?” Pepper heard Ben comment to May as they stared up at the giant Pollock painting in front of the couple. Pepper stood behind them, not wanting to ruin their date night. She knew that they barely had time to get to go on dates, especially when they were helping with Peter so much. The last thing Pepper wanted to do was get in their way.

“What kind of idiot would spend that much money on splatter paint?” May whispered as quietly as she could, hoping no one would overhear. A couple next to them shot May some serious side-eye. So much for being quiet.

“It represents so much more than just that, he helped create Abstract Expressionism. He’s basically a revolutionary when it comes to modern art.” Ben exclaimed. How did he marry a woman who didn’t know the difference between renaissance art and modern art? 

“It’s overpriced,” May stated as a matter of fact.

“It’s tasteful!!” Ben shouted. More couples looked over at the pair with questioning eyes, while Ben muttered out apologies. May just laughed.

Pepper smiled listening to them argue over art. But her attention was pulled away when Peter started to whimper. She could smell it from here, he needed a diaper change.

“Hey May and Ben,” Pepper called out to her friends ahead of her, who turned around to see what she needed. “I think I need to go to change Peter. I’ll be in the bathroom.”

Both Ben and May smiled and nodded, and went back to arguing over whether or not they would spend $140 million on a Jackson Pollock.

\--

After Pepper strapped a new diaper onto Peter, she redressed him. She had gotten so quick at that. And he was such an easy baby. She talked to other moms, and they often mentioned how envious they were of her. He rarely cried. The only thing he would get fussy over was when he was tired or wanted to cuddle or when he was deprived of his new toy. It seemed like he was now inseparable from his Ironman.

Pepper strapped him back into the stroller and pushed him out of the stall with the changing table.

Pepper was washing her hands when she heard the door open. In all honesty, she wasn’t really paying attention to anyone else at the moment. She looked up at herself in the mirror and saw red hair she never expected to see again. 

Both sets of eyes widened.

‘Don’t trust her.’ Pepper immediately thought.  
‘Make her trust you.’ Nat told herself. 

“Holy shit,” Pepper whispered.

_Don’t trust her._

“Pep?” Nat couldn’t believe it. Out of every possible scenario, she never expected that she would find Pepper in a bathroom at a modern art museum. “Holy shit.”

_Make her trust you._

“Um I gotta go,” Pepper quickly grabbed the stroller and took a step towards the door.

_Don’t trust her. ___

____

____

Nat’s eyes widened as she saw Pepper grab the stroller. ‘Holy shit was there a baby in there? Whose kid is that? I can’t let her leave, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.’

____

_Make her trust you._

______ _ _

______ _ _

“Wait! I um, don’t have a job anymore,” Nat lied through her teeth. A last-minute decision out of desperation, but Pepper seemed to stop rushing towards the door.

______ _ _

_Make her trust you._  
_Make her trust you._  
_Make her trust you._

______ _ _

______ _ _

“What?”

______ _ _

“I, um, no longer work for Tony,” Nat whispered, quickly glancing to see if anyone else was in the bathroom. She saw no one. “He uh fired me after you um left.”

______ _ _

“I’m so sorry Nat I didn’t mean to hurt your career, it’s just, did you know he was in the mob?” Pepper whispered the last part. 

______ _ _

If anything, Nat felt kind of bad. Pepper had been terrified of her husband, and rightfully so. Tony was dangerous, and she was no better. She lied to Pepper for the entire time she worked for Pepper, and Pepper still had no idea. And she felt bad that she had to keep lying to Pepper. But Nat was a trained liar and a damn good one. The thousands of hours of training as an agent made it a lot easier for her to lie to an innocent woman’s face.

______ _ _

“Wait what? No! I didn’t know, but is that why you left?”

______ _ _

Pepper nodded. “I just couldn’t do it,” she said softly and looked down at the stroller. Nat followed her gaze and saw the baby wrapped in a blue blanket hugging what looked like Ironman.

______ _ _

“Is he…” Nat started to ask, but she could tell instantly. He was the spitting image of Tony. Those big brown eyes were identical to the ones she had been staring at not two hours ago. And if that didn’t give it away, he was hugging an Ironman plushie.

______ _ _

“Yea,” Pepper said. She knew what her old assistant was asking. Was he Tony’s? Does he not know about his own kid? Does she feel guilty about keeping her husband from his own child? Does she miss her husband with every breath she takes?

______ _ _

Yea.

______ _ _

“What’s his name?” Nat asked. Everything she could find out would be incredibly useful.

______ _ _

_Don’t trust her._  
_Don’t trust her._  
_Don’t trust her._  
_Don’t trust her._  
_Don’t trust her._  
_Don’t trust her._

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

“Peter,” Pepper said softly. Despite how it was probably safe to tell Nat his real name, something reminded her over and over again not to trust her. That Nat was connected to her past, her very dangerous and unwanted past.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

“He’s beautiful,” Nat wanted to reach out and touch him. To hold him. She thought that maybe she should grab him. But she knew she couldn’t do that. Security would probably try to stop her. Not that MoMA security would actually be able to prevent her from kidnapping, she could kill them all with one hand while carrying a baby. But causing a scene like that would be very bad for the Stark family. Very very bad.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

“Thanks,” Pepper looked down at him and could feel the tears in her eyes. “I just - I just wanted to be able to give him a normal life, you know? A chance to be a kid, and not have his life decided for him. I don’t want him to ever have to kill someone like his father.” She whispered the last part out as if saying it would cause Tony to appear from thin air.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

Nat nodded. Surprisingly, Nat understood. She chose to join the mob. She made her choices because she could. Peter couldn't. If Peter had been born where he was supposed to be, with Tony and the rest of the mob, he would have no choice. What surprised her more is how bad she felt for Pepper. To have to make a sacrifice like that, Nat couldn’t imagine doing it herself.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

“Listen, it was good to see you Natalie, but I really have to get going,” Pepper smiled and quickly walked to the door.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

“Wait let me give you my number, maybe we can grab coffee sometime,” Nat said hoping to stall her.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Pepper said as she pushed the bathroom door open and walked out, leaving Nat alone in the bathroom.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

Nat tried to process everything. Pepper had Tony’s kid without him knowing? He would freak if he found out. He might start murdering everyone in his path to get to his son. Tony would do anything for his wife, but for his son? The heir to his entire empire? He would do more than anything. She could feel the blood drain from her face in fear. The anger and resentment he would feel towards Pepper made her wonder whether or not Tony would actually keep his word and not hurt Pepper. She knew how angry he could get. Nat reasoned that yes, it was kinda terrible that she’s keeping Tony from getting to know his own child, but the tradeoff and sacrifice Pepper made actually made a lot of sense to Nat. That boy was just a little baby, he was better off not being forced into the mob. Nat finally understood why Pepper left. Finally, she found Pepper. Finally, she had answers to the problem the entire Stark mob had dealt with for the past year.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

But what was the solution? Just because she knew why Pepper left and where she was, did that mean she should tell Tony? Tony trusted her, and Nat wanted to move up in the mob. Nat wanted to be a leader, not just a trusted bodyguard, assistant, and backup assassin. But at what cost to poor Pepper and baby Peter? Yet if she didn’t tell and Tony found out, what would he do to her? Kill her?

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

Nat stood there in shock for what felt like hours as she tried to figure out what to do. In reality, it was only seconds until her brain clicked into place that she should follow Pepper out. Nat realized she didn't actually know where Pepper was staying or what name she was using. Maybe she could try and figure out where Pepper was going and what Pepper was up to while she herself figured out what the hell she was going to do about all of this.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

But when Nat opened up the bathroom door, and looked all over MoMA, Pepper was nowhere to be found.

_____ _

______ _ _

_____ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG should Nat tell Tony?!?! 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts, much appreciated!


	4. The Instincts We Follow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to post! I wasn't sure about it, but I hope you like it! Again, thank you all for the comments, I really really enjoy reading them!!

The next morning, Nat stood nervously outside of Tony’s office. Should she go in? Should she not go in?

She took a deep breath and entered. Tony sat at his desk and was looking up at Rhodey who was pacing. They were arguing.

“I swear Justin Hammer is a dumbass. It’ll take him over 20 years to create the technology to rival my current Ironman, and by then, I will be so much further along,” Tony said, his voice laced with boredom.

“But he’s still a threat to our family, we have to do something!” Rhodey argued.

“He’s too high profile, we touch him and everyone will know it was me,” Tony knew that Hammer had so many government officials in his pocket, he was too prominent to touch without turning some heads.

Nat cleared her throat.

“Ahem, boys,” she started. “I need to speak to Tony.”

“Get in line,” Rhodey rolled his eyes.

“It’s urgent.” Nat tried to keep her voice steady to hide the nervousness in her voice.

“Alright Romanov, spit it out.” Tony gestured for her to speak.

“Can we speak privately?” Nat asked.

“Because suddenly the consigliere isn’t high up enough to know about this?” Rhodey asked skeptically and folded his arms.

“Rhodes is right. Anyways, get to the point,” Tony said. Before Nat could get a word in, his phone rang. He gestured to Rhodey, “Ugh it’s Happy.”

“Yes Happy?” Tony whispered out. “Yea put the tracker on Hammer’s car. Somewhere he won’t see it! Yes, under the wheel well is good. Yes, put a tracker on all of his cars. But make sure to put them in different places in case they find one. Got it? Good. Now get out of there before anyone sees you.”

Rhodey stepped away from his friend and walked to Nat. He put his arm on her shoulder and started walking her to the door.

“Listen, promise me this isn’t as important as the situation with the Hammer mob. Besides, maybe you’ll have more time to get Tony more information about whatever it is you wanted to talk about.”

With that, he closed Tony’s office door, shutting Nat out.

As that door closed, Nat knew another one open. Her instincts told her exactly what to do.

\--

The seasons changed and so did Nat. From Winter to Spring to Summer to Autumn to Winter to Spring, time waited for no one. 

As Nat walked into her office, she thought back to the time over a year ago when she walked into Tony’s office to tell Tony about how she found Pepper. Getting kicked out was a sign. God was she glad she changed her mind and kept it a secret. 

Nat looked down at the folder she worked so hard on putting together over the past year and a half. It took her so long because she had so little information and she had to keep it under wraps. After Rhodey pushed her out of Tony’s office, she realized he was right. She needed more information and to actually find her. And besides, she needed to track down Pepper quietly. Once she found her, she knew she could help Pepper. No one could find out what she was up to, especially any rivals. If any rival families found out what she was doing, they could kill the heir to the Stark family before she was able to save him. But with what she had learned at MoMA, she was able to find Pepper without raising any flags. She spent months just looking through birth records at all of the hospitals in the NYC area. She had no idea how old Peter was exactly, but she narrowed down the dates and looked for any birth certificates with a boy named Peter. She found hundreds. It took her months of discretely investigating all of these families one by one to finally find the right Peter. 

It was over a year after the MoMA Christmas special when she was finally able to confirm Mary Fitzpatrick was indeed Pepper. Pepper, aka Mary, had started over without her husband. She had a job, was extremely close to her neighbors, May and Ben Parker, and appeared to be generally happy with her life. Despite living in poverty, Pepper appeared to have all the support she needed from the Parkers.

Nat had spent the past year internally battling with herself on what the right thing to do was. Nat’s instinct told her she had to help Pepper. But what even would helping Pepper look like? Did she still love and miss Tony the way Tony craved her? Tony still talked about Pepper nearly every day to her or Rhodey or Happy. It seemed he would never get over her, and no one else had any leads. If she told him she would have a major edge in the Stark family. But still, she wasn’t sure if it was really her place to dictate Pepper and Peter’s lives. Maybe they were better off outside the mob. Maybe the right thing to do was just to protect them from afar. She could try to warn them if any danger came up. She could protect them and keep them secretly tucked away from the mob.

Nat looked out the window and wondered what Peter looked like now. Did he look more like Tony? He had to be walking. He might even be talking by now. She looked back down at the folder and started going through each page. It was then she realized the pages were out of order. 

Someone had seen the file. 

Nat frantically opened up her computer to look at her security camera. She sped up the footage from the past few days and immediately noticed someone enter her office. It wasn’t someone she recognized. The man was wearing all black and took pictures of her file. Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

She slowed down the footage and was able to take a screenshot of his face. She ran his face through the database Tony had put together to track Stark employees, Stark mob associates, and any other mobsters they had information on. Tony had been smart. He hacked into other mobs’ files and stole as much information as she could.

She gulped when the matched showed he was from the Hammer family. 

Pepper was in danger, serious danger, and Nat knew what she had to do. She had to help Pepper. Help her and Peter escape. She figured they would have to lie low, change their names, move to another city. Nat would help them disappear. This was her fault anyway; she put them in danger. But first, she needed to get to them, make sure the Hammers hadn’t already gotten to her. She opened up her desk drawer to find the keys to the Audi Tony gave her.

She was so distracted looking for the keys she didn’t hear Happy come into her office.

“Hey what is that?” He grabbed the folder. Nat whipped around her eyes bursting with fear.

“No give me that back,” Nat reached out to try to grab it, but Happy held it high with his left hand and pushed her back with his right.

“What is this?” Happy looked at the birth certificate. She knew she was screwed if she didn’t give up her secret immediately.

“It’s not something that concerns you, give it back I gotta go quick.”

“Common tell me what it is, it must be important if you have a whole folder of some random kid’s information.” Happy turned to the next page and looked at Nat’s notes. “Who is this kid?”

“I don’t have time for this, give it back,” Nat begged.

“Seriously, spill now.”

“I have to do something first, I’ll tell Tony I promise,” Nat jumped from where she was sitting and snatched the folder out of Happy’s hand. She stormed out of the office, with the folder and car keys in hand.

Happy stood in Nat’s office looking at the exit she just left in. To Happy, it seemed suspicious. What was Nat up to? Happy knew Nat wasn’t afraid of anything, yet he couldn’t get her fear-filled eyes out of his mind. Something was up.

Happy decided that he had to rat Nat out so he went to Tony’s office. When he barged through Tony’s office door, Tony was meeting with a man Happy hadn’t seen before. The man was bald and had an eyepatch. Tony looked relieved to have an interruption. Happy rushed to Tony’s side of the desk and saw that Tony was discretely checking the location of the tracker they planted on Hammer’s car. It was on the move. Ever since last year, the Starks and Hammers had been going at each other. The tension was building between the mobs, and Tony knew it was a ticking time bomb.

“Excuse me, I have a meeting with Mr. Stark!” Eyepatch said.

“And you are?” Happy asked, with his eyes narrowed. 

“My name is Nick Fury, and it’s none of your damn business why I’m here!” Fury shouted.

“He’s trying to get me to join his super-secret boy band,” Tony explained with boredom.

Fury rolled his one eye. He wasn’t going to wait around for this little interruption to end. 

“I will be back soon Stark to finish our discussion.” Fury huffed as he stood up and walked to the door.

“Bye now!” Tony waved as Fury slammed the door behind him.

Tony pivoted his chair to face Happy.

“Did you forget how to knock?” Tony joked.

“Hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.” Happy worried.

“Nope just some Avengers initiative.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Sounds important,” Happy commented.

“Eh maybe,” Tony wasn’t so sure. A superhero? How could he, a mobster, be a hero?

“Anyways, I thought Nat would come here since she has something to tell you.” Happy stated and looked around. Maybe Nat was hiding in some corner to kill him for ratting on her. She was a superspy after all.

“What are you talked about?” Tony asked. Tony looked back at the screen with all of the Hammer car locations. A handful were in Queens.

“She just,” Happy blubbered out, “she had this folder filled with information about some woman and her kid. It seems strange to me. She said she was going to tell you and wouldn’t let me look at it.”

“Hmm, not sure what that’s about. Did you get any information?”

“Well I saw an address, it’s in Queens.”

“You think she’s headed there now?” Tony asked rhetorically.

“Maybe,”

\--

“U’cle Ben!! U’cle Ben!!” A 20-month-old Peter bounced up and down on his toes in the living room of the Parkers. He was holding his favorite toy. The Ironman plushie May and Ben gave him for his first Christmas. He loved Ironman more and more as he grew and brought his Ironman with him everywhere.

“Peteeeeeee,” Ben picked up Peter and swung him around, soaking up the giggles that filled the apartment. 

“Aun May?” Peter asked looking around. Where was his favorite aunt that he missed so much?

“She had to go to work and she won’t be back until wayyyy after your mommy comes to get you, so it’s just you and me bud.” Peter gave Ben a pout, and Ben laughed. “You’re adorable when you pout, you know that kid?”

“May May May MAYYYYY” Peter chanted. Peter wanted his favorite aunt to come play with him, even if her food was yucky. 

“I know you loveeee my wife, but what about me? Do you love me? Can you say I love you?” Ben asked as he hugged Peter to his chest.

“I luv youuu,” Peter sang and giggled into his favorite uncle’s chest. Uncle Ben was fun. He would toss Peter in the air and let Peter do acrobatics in the air. He loved it.

“Common it’s snack time, then it’ll be nap time. What do you want for a snack bud?” Ben asked.

“Blubleblablananana,” Peter said confidently. Ben looked at him confused. Sometimes, Peter could speak clearly. Other times, he still made absolutely no sense at all.

“Almond date loaf?” Ben smirked.

“Noooooooooo,” Peter wined. Not yummy.

“Ummm, do you want blueberries and bananas?” Ben asked hesitantly, hoping that’s what he wanted.

Peter squealed in excitement.

\--

Nat pulled up to the apartment building in Queens in the black Audi. She scanned the area, looking for any threats. Her eyes landed on a black BMW with tinted windows. She looked at the license.

HAMM3R

Nat yanked the car door open and ran towards the building. 

\--

“Your Ironman plushie doesn’t need any blueberries, Peter,” Ben tried to negotiate with his nephew, who was laying on his stomach on the floor with his blueberries and his Ironman stuffy attempting to put a spoonful of blueberries into the mouth of Ironman. But Ben’s suggestions went unnoticed, as Peter kept babbling to his stuffy and pushed the spoon into the face of his favorite toy, spilling blueberries all over the floor.

Ben heard a knock on the door and stood up from where he was crouching next to Peter.

“You’re silly Pete,” Ben bent back down to ruffle Peter’s curls. Another knock, more urgent than the last.

“I’m coming!” Ben called out and rushed to the door. 

He was shocked when he opened the door to see an unfamiliar man wearing a grey suit and glasses towering in his doorway. He had two larger men behind him.

“Can I help you?” Ben asked nervously.

“Is Mary, um” Justin Hammer looked down at his phone to confirm the name one of his spies gave him. His spy promised that they had seen one of Tony’s closest associate's digging into this little family. Told him it would piss off Stark. This kind of opportunity was exactly what Justin was looking for. Justin didn’t really have time to look into it, but he knew that if one of Stark’s people was looking into these civilians, he could use them to hurt Stark.

“Is Mary Fitzpatrick home?” Justin finished his question.

“Um, no, but can I take a message?” 

“Actually no, you can’t,” Hammer smiled wickedly and pulled out a gun.

\--

“Don’t you have a tracker on all Stark cars?” Happy asked.

“Yea” Tony rolled his eyes. He obviously wanted to keep tabs on where his crew was going at all times.

“Well pull it up, we can see where Nat went,” Tony rolled his eyes, and typed in the code to overlap the location of the car Nat was in with the Hammer car data.

Nat’s car was directly overlapping with three of Hammer’s cars. Tony’s eyes bulged. The threat was imminent and Nat couldn’t do this alone. 

Tony called for his suit, and it encased him immediately. Tony rocketed out of his window, leaving Rhodes behind.

\--

“Whoa whoa whoa, please put that down,” Ben’s eyes widened. He put his hands up and stepped in front of the view of Peter to protect his nephew from seeing the gun.

“Where is she, and why is Stark so interested in you?” Hammer demanded, walking forward with the gun pointed at Ben’s chest.

“What? Who’s Stark? Tony Stark? I don’t know him, I promise! Please put the gun down I promise I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“But you DO know Stark! His crew has been looking into you.”

“What that’s impossible! We aren’t in the mob! Please I’ll tell you anything you want, we just don’t have anything to do with the Stark mob.”

“LIAR!!” Hammer screamed as his finger closed on the trigger.

\--

Tony was still in the air when he saw Nat running towards the door of an apartment building. He landed in front of Nat, and she stopped dead in her tracks. 

Tony was about to speak when they heard a gunshot ring out.

“GO” Nat yelled.

Tony took off and broke through the window where Friday detected the shot.

\--

Ben looked down, to see the blood seeping through his shirt. He looked back up to see the strange man smirking.

Ben fell to his knees and collapsed onto his back. He looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember how to breathe. For Ben, everything felt like a dream. He felt nothing, yet he felt everything. His body was in so much pain, but it felt like he wasn’t even in his body.

“U’cle Ben?” Peter called out, looking for his uncle. The strange noise was confusing, he had never heard anything like that before.

When Peter spotted his uncle lying on the ground, he screamed, dropped his Ironman, and ran to his uncle.

“Nononononono” Peter sobbed and put his head on his uncle’s chest and wailed into his favorite uncle.

“Pete,” Ben breathed out. He lifted a shaky hand to brush the curls out of Peter’s face. Why did it hurt to talk? Why was Pete so blurry? He took a shaky breath, feeling the exhaustion pull at him. He had so much to say to his beloved nephew. With a weak voice, he spoke, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” 

Ben closed his eyes. 

“Why boo-boo? U’cle BENNNN” Peter said through tears. He tried to shake his uncle. Uncle Ben didn’t respond, and Peter cried harder. So hard that he was gasping for air. Peter was confused, why was uncle Ben sleeping on the floor funny with a big boo-boo? He had never felt this scared in his life. 

Hammer watched the little boy cry over his uncle and raised his gun. He would do what he had to do. Anything to piss off Stark. He pointed it at the boy and was about to pull the trigger when he heard the window shatter.

Hammer looked up in time to see Ironman blast him with the full force of his repulsors. Hammer had no time to react. He was hit by the blast, sending his lifeless body flying into his crew. Tony shot more blasts over and over again, his instincts screamed for him to protect. Protect, protect, protect. It didn’t matter how high up Hammer was or who Hammer’s connections were or what mob war he just started, what mattered was that Tony trusted his instincts to get rid of Hammer once and for all. He shot at them until he knew that Hammer and his men were nothing but ashes.

Tony glanced around the apartment to see why the hell Hammer targeted these people. He had no idea who this guy was. The impoverished state of the apartment clearly meant he wasn’t a mob associate. He saw pictures scattered around the apartment of that man. There was one which looked like a wedding photo with a woman who had long straight brown hair. There was another photo of him and the same woman holding a baby.

He only realized he wasn’t alone when he heard the muffled sob. There was a kid on the ground crying. Tony watched the boy sob on the chest of the bloody man for a moment, then realized he should probably do something about the kid. Instinct told him to help the poor boy. He walked over and crouched down next to the toddler, who was sobbing onto the dead body. The kid had to be under two, he was tiny. 

Looking at that boy was the first time Tony felt something in a long time. Tony had learned to always suppress emotions, especially when it came to his line of work. In his world, death was inevitable. But the scene in front of him was unforgivable. Tony felt an overwhelming urge to protect this small innocent boy. He couldn’t fully explain it.

Tony was already uncomfortable dealing with kids, let alone a kid who just had something traumatic happen. But something told him he had to be the one to help the child. That thing telling him to help… it wasn’t words.

It was instinct.

A protective, caring, loving instinct.

“Hey kid,” Tony’s voice sounded tinny in the suit. When the kid didn’t look up, he shook the boy’s shoulder. The kid looked up, and his eyes widened.

“I’nman?” He sniffled out; eyes still filled with tears.

“Yup, hi buddy, come here,” Tony said awkwardly and reached his arms out and plucked the kid off the body.

“Cold!!” The boy cried out. Tony realized he must be talking about the suit, so he set the boy down on the couch, who started to cry harder now that he was alone on the couch, then Tony stepped out of the suit. He quickly picked the boy back up, instinctively holding him close, and walked him away from the body. Tony was surprised when the kid wrapped his arms around him and put his face into Tony’s neck. Tony held the boy’s head there as he continued to cry. Tony hoped that by cradling him like this, he could keep the boy from seeing his uncle’s body again. He went and opened the door next to the couch, and was glad to find a bedroom. At least here he could keep the kid away from the dead body. He felt strangely natural holding the kid as he continued to cry. Tony did his best to rock the kid, thinking that the movement could be soothing. Tony looked around the bedroom and saw more pictures of the man and his wife. 

He almost dropped the kid when he saw pictures of his own wife. 

He walked up and examined them closer. In every single photo, she was holding a kid. This kid. The kid currently in his arms.

“Hey kiddo,” Tony shook the boy to get him to lift his face up. Tony picked up a picture of his wife. In the picture, the boy had chocolate all over his face and was sitting in Pepper’s lap. His wife smiling into the camera with her cheek pressed up against the boy’s cheek. “Who is this?”

“Mommy.” He sniffled out.

“That’s your mommy?” Tony asked again, dumbfounded.

“Uh-huh,”

“This woman right there?” Tony used his thumb to point out Pepper.

“Mommy,” Peter confirmed. Tony was still completely in shock.

“And what’s your name?” Tony set the photo back down and sat on the edge of the bed, holding the kid a little tighter.

“Peter!” The boy looked at him as if it was so obvious that Tony should have known. Tony was surprised that Peter wasn’t crying anymore, but he figured the kid had a short attention span… just like Tony.

“Right… And what about daddy?” Tony asked. Was this his son? Tony examined the kid's face and knew the answer immediately. Those big brown Bambi eyes reminded Tony of the eyes he saw when he looked in the mirror every morning. He realized this kid had to be under 2, yet he was answering questions. So this kid was a genius too. Like father like son.

He didn’t just see and hear similarities; he could feel it. Deep down he already knew the truth. The boy he was holding was his son.

“I dunno” Peter shrugged and put his head back down on Tony’s shoulder. Peter felt safe in Ironman’s arms. Real Ironman was much bigger and warmer than his stuffy.

“Where’s Mommy now?” Tony asked.

“Mommy work,” Peter said with a hint of sadness. But immediately after, he yawned, feeling an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Unbeknownst to Tony, it was past the kid’s naptime. Peter wiggled in Tony’s arms, looking for a more comfortable position.

“You tired Pete?” Tony wondered, shifting the boy in his arms to make him more comfortable.

Peter nodded against Tony’s neck.

“Close your eyes,” Tony rubbed his boy’s back in slow soothing circles.

“Scared,” Peter whispered out, his eyes started to fill with tears. As he started to remember the confusing and scary thing that happened to his uncle, he began to shake.

“Shhh shhh shh,” Tony tried to soothe and began to run his fingers through Peter’s hair. “I’m Ironman, I’ll protect you.” Tony could feel the little arms wrap around his neck, with fists grabbing the back of his shirt.

“Promise?” The boy whispered.

“Always.”

\--  
Tony held Peter securely for a long time. He felt the boy’s breathing even out against his neck, and he pressed a kiss to the boy’s temple.

Where did that come from? Tony was shocked by his soft behavior. He, a mobster, was kissing a toddler’s head. But it felt so right. Instinctive. This was his son; he was basically sure of it. But he had a feeling he knew a certain redhead who he could confirm the paternity for him.

Tony gently stood up, trying not to jostle Peter. He walked back out into the living room to find Nat, Rhodey, Happy, and a few men from his crew there. Tony looked around, and Ben’s body as well as the ashes of Hammer and his men were already gone. His crew had heavy-duty cleaning supplies, the kind they would usually use for serious jobs.

“Where the man? Is he…” Rhodey cut Tony off but didn’t look up from where he was still wiping blood from the floor.

“He was already dead when we got here. We tried to save him but there was nothing we could do” Rhodey said solemnly and continued scrubbing. The Starks had a rule as did most families. Leave civilians out of the bloodshed. Yet that asshole Hammer didn’t seem to have the same morals. At least he paid dearly. While killing a rival mobster could start a war, no other mob would question Tony’s actions to protect a child. Especially if the child was his.

“I called them as soon as I got here and saw the car,” Nat commented quietly, noticing the boy was asleep in his arms. Rhodey and Happy finally looked up at their boss.

“Um is that a kid?” Rhodey asked confused.

“Yea same question,” Happy added quickly.

“That’s Peter isn’t it?” Nat asked. Tony turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

“I tried to tell you over a year ago, but this one pushed me out of your office.” Nat pointed to Rhodey, who put his hands up in surrender with a confused look on his face. “It’s taken me all this time to track them down. I just got the address last week.” 

In reality, she had known for longer, but she knew if she told him the truth, she was a dead woman. So she lied. She knew she would have to keep lying. Not just for herself, but for Pepper. For Peter. The less she revealed, the better.

“You should have told me,” Tony whispered, trying not to lose his temper. He couldn’t, not when he was holding a sleeping boy. He could yell at Nat later. He paused only for a second as he looked down at the boy in his arms. “So, he’s mine?”

“Yea. He is.” Nat revealed the biggest part of the secret that had been plaguing her for the past year. Tony closed his eyes, inhaled deeply as he hugged his son just a little tighter. “He was born on August 10th.”

Tony did the math in his head. 9 months after his honeymoon, his son was born. And he missed it. And he missed so much more. It made him sad to think about it. He missed so much of his baby’s life; he wouldn’t miss anymore. He promised himself that. And he would do everything in his power to ensure that.

“Holy shit, I took her to a doctor a few weeks before she disappeared” Happy choked on his own words.

“I’ve been trying to tell you this. But,” Nat paused, and sighed heavily, “Pepper really wanted to give him a normal life and- and I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“You found Pepper,” Rhodey gawked. 

“Normal? That’s not really possible as you can see here,” Tony ignored Happy and Rhodey’s comments. Tony’s eyes gestured around the room which was completely destroyed.

“I know it’s not,” Nat said solemnly, “that’s why I came here today to try to convince her to come back.” 

_Liar, Liar, Liar. _Nat’s mind screamed it over and over again, but she kept going.__

__“I have no idea how Hammer found out about her.”_ _

__“Where is she?” Happy wondered looking around._ _

__“Work,” Tony said, “at least that’s what he says.” Tony glanced down to check he was still asleep. He still couldn’t believe he was holding his son._ _

__“When will she be back?” Rhodey asked._ _

__“I’m not sure,” Tony stated, his expression cold. “But I’ll be here to take her home.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel TERRIBLE about killing Ben
> 
> Next chapter Tony and Pepper will reunite... any thoughts on how that should go?


	5. Inside Your Heart, I Won't Let Go

Pepper was exhausted. It was a long day of work, and her boss was an ass. He kept her late, long past sunset, to go over his schedule even though she had to leave. Funny how she always seemed to have demanding bosses.

As she walked down her street in Queens, she noticed how quiet it was. Peaceful. Usually, it was loud, the hustle and bustle of Queens would surround her and stimulate all her senses. But now, she could hear her soft breaths. The streets were empty. There were no street vendors yelling for attention, or taxi cabs honking, or kids laughing. There was just the moon to keep her company. The moon was big and bright tonight. The moon was so captivating, she couldn’t look away. Usually, the moon hid behind the light pollution, so she rarely saw it. After such a long and difficult day, it was nice to see something beautiful and tranquil. She took one last look at the full moon before she stepped into the apartment building.

_If she had been able to pry her eyes away from the moon, she would have noticed the familiar black Audi._

She knew Ben would be okay having Peter for a bit longer than usual, but she herself wanted to spend what little free time she had with Peter. Usually, after work, she would give Peter a big and dramatic hug, always initiated by Peter, and they would spend a little time together with the Parkers. Then they’d go back to their apartment down the hall, eat dinner, play for a bit, then cuddle on the couch while Pepper would read Peter a book. Pepper cherished those moments and loved her cuddly little boy. The weight of her little boy as he hugged her made the long terrible hours at work worth it.

_If she hadn’t been daydreaming about Peter as she walked up the stairs, she would have noticed the trickle of blood on the steps._

Finally, Pepper was home. Pepper opened the Parker’s front door and dropped her bag down on the floor. At this point, they were so close they didn’t even knock when they came into one another’s apartment.

_If she had looked across the hall from the Parker’s door before she entered, she would have noticed the scorched wall caused by Ironman’s repulsor blast._

“Hey Ben, sorry I’m a bit late, my boss was being terrible as usual. I hope Peter wasn’t any trouble.” Pepper said, shrugging her coat off to hang on the coat tree.

“Peter is no trouble, ever. You on the other hand…”

Pepper's eyes bulged. That wasn’t Ben’s voice. Or May’s. She recognized his voice immediately. His voice was the one she couldn’t forget. His voice was the one she heard over and over again in her dreams. Pepper rounded the corner of the apartment and saw the man she hoped to never see again.

_No. No no no no no no. This can’t be happening._

There sat the one and only Tony Stark. His black suit was as dark as his eyes. He looked angry. No, he looked beyond angry. His deep frown and dark gaze were piercing. He stared her down and made no movement. He said nothing, yet his eyes told her everything.

She couldn’t be more terrified.

In Tony’s lap sat her son. Well, their son. Tony’s arms were wrapped protectively around the boy. He was wide awake, playing with Tony’s red tie. Peter looked up, sensing his mother’s presence. 

“Mommy!” Peter cried out, making grabby hands. Finally, his mommy was home to give him his hug. He started to wiggle against Tony’s strong arms. 

Tony broke the eye contact he was making with his wife to look down at his squirming son. The dark eyes were immediately replaced with a soft, loving gaze.

“Stay with Daddy for a minute Petey, Mommy and I need to talk,” Tony said, and reach to his side to pick up the Ironman plushy to hand to his son. Peter immediately grabbed it and started babbling to himself as he danced around his favorite toy against his father’s chest, oblivious to what was going on around him.

“Tony, I- I” Pepper stuttered out.

“Oh, so you remember my name?” Tony’s soft gaze disappeared as he looked back up at his wife.

“I-I-I” Pepper continued to stutter, completely shocked.

“It’s nice to see you too, wife of mine. When were you going to tell me we have a son?” Tony hissed out.

“Where’s Ben? God, what did you do to Ben? I swear if you hurt him-”

“I didn’t do anything to him.” Tony hissed out. “You on the other hand… well let’s just say your choices led to what happened.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Pepper asked nervously. Her gaze shifted towards the broken window.

“You know your choices almost got our baby killed today. Justin Hammer found you. You’ve probably heard all about their family. They’re the ones that aren’t afraid to kill innocent civilians. They killed Ben in front of our son and were about to kill our baby too. If I was a second later, he would be dead too.” Tony gritted out quietly, hugging their son with a little squeeze.

“Wh-what?” Pepper was shocked. She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes.

“You left without saying anything! You put our baby in danger by living in this dump! The Hammers found you and they were going to kill you to get to me. What you don’t seem to get is how dangerous your runaway plan was. What were you thinking?” Tony said and glanced down quickly to make sure Peter was still playing with his toy.

“What was I thinking? You are in the mob! You kill people for a living!”

“You didn’t seem to have a problem after I told you.” Tony scoffed.

“But I did! I don’t want to be associated with the mob, and I certainly don't want Peter to grow up and be a murderer like you.”

“Yet you are associated with the mob. Like it or not,” Tony stated. He paused and looked down at his son, who looked up at him with big, innocent brown eyes. “And so is he.”

“He doesn’t have to be.”

“He’s a Stark. Stark blood runs through his veins. No matter what, other mobs will always want to kill him, whether or not he knows who he really is.”

Pepper was on the verge of tears. 

“Peter honey, come give Mommy a hug.”

Tony glared at her. He knew she was trying to use Peter as a buffer. Tony hesitated, not wanting his baby to leave his arms. Holding Peter calmed Tony, and thinking about letting his baby go made him anxious. More anxious than he had ever felt about anything ever before. But Peter was wiggling excitedly to see his mom, so he let his son go. Peter hopped off his lap and ran straight into his mother’s arms.

Tony wondered if his son would ever be so happy to see him the way he was for Pepper.

“Mommy,” Peter said as Pepper scooped him up and put him on her hip. He pointed at his father. “I’nman!”

Pepper didn’t hesitate. With her son securely in her arms, she took one step back then quickly turned to run to the door. 

But Happy and Rhodey appeared out of thin air to intercept her escape. They stood in front of the door, effectively blocking any potential way for Pepper to run.

“Pep,” Happy said. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“Just let me and him go please,” Pepper begged.

“We can’t do that,” Rhodes sighed.

“Why don’t you put Peter down so he can play. We have lots to talk about.” Tony stated as he stood directly behind her. It wasn’t a suggestion.

Pepper hesitantly lowered Peter to the ground and planted a kiss on his forehead. Peter immediately ran off towards the bedroom, making a beeline for the bed. Peter always found a way to jump on the bed, especially when his mommy was preoccupied.

Tony took a step towards her, like a predator hunting its prey. Pepper took a step back, moving away from Tony each time he got closer. They did this until Pepper’s back was pressed up against the wall. Tony put both his arms on the wall beside her, caging her in.

“So, you decided it was a good idea to keep my son a secret from me? Pep how could you?” Tony asked heatedly, yet the hurt was evident in his voice. His dark eyes glared into her soul.

“Tony, I wanted him to have a good life,” Pepper whispered out.

“A good life!” Tony laughed with no happiness backing it. He brought his face within inches of Pepper’s. “You call this dump a good place to raise our kid? This is one of the most dangerous places in New York, and you pick here? Not to mention he deserves to have a father. And I deserve, no, I need to have my son.”

“Why so you can raise him to be your little minion? Killing everyone in sight like you?” Pepper snapped back.

_She could smell the familiar cologne mixed with coffee and motor oil that she had been longing to smell over the last two years._

“You brought him into this world fatherless. You lied to me and hid from me. You’re no better.”

_She still smelt like the Pep he dreamed about every night._

“He has May and Ben! They love him-“

_Pepper could feel his warm breath on her face. It reminded her of the countless mornings of them waking up together, tangled in each other’s arms._

“No one can replace his father. No one.”

_Even with the fear in her eyes, she was still as beautiful as ever._

“So what you’re just going to take him from me?”

_The way he looked at her, even after all this time, still brought butterflies to her stomach._

Tony smiled. He leaned in further, their noses and foreheads touching.

“If I wanted just my son, we would have left hours ago. No, I came back for what’s mine.”

With that, he leaned in and closed the distance. He kissed her roughly, letting his fear of losing her and the loneliness melt away. For so long, he dreamed about kissing her again. To feel her body against his. To have her back. Finally, he had her, and there was no way in hell he was letting her go.

He couldn’t help the grin that spread across his lips when he felt her kiss him back.

He pressed his body against her, pinning her entire body against the wall. His mouth wandered down to her neck, and he kissed her neck ferociously. He sucked hard on her neck, making sure to leave bruises. 

The moan Pepper was trying to suppress slipped out. She could feel Tony smirk against her neck.

“You still want me,” Tony breathed against her neck.

Something in Pepper’s brain snapped, and she halfheartedly tried to push Tony off. But his strength kept him in place. He kept kissing her neck, going lower and lower. He began to push back the v neck of her shirt and was working his way down her neck to her shoulder. Marking her as he went. He brought his head back up to her neck and sucked hard on a spot he knew would get his wife to moan again. 

“Tony stop, Peter could walk back and see us,” Pepper begged, barely able to hold back a moan.

“I love it when you beg,” Tony commented breathlessly against her neck, and went back to kissing.

“Tony,” Pepper said seriously and pushed him again. This time, he let her push him off. 

“Fine, we can continue this later. Besides, you are grabbing what Peter needs so we can go home.”

“What?” Pepper asked shocked.

“Your stuff is obviously still in our room at home. But I didn’t know I’d be bringing home the son I never knew I had. So, I don’t have anything for him yet. Grab what he needs for a night, and I’ll have Friday order everything else he might need and want. Not like I trust poverty-stricken baby clothes or any of Queen’s finest crappy furniture in my tower.”

“You really can be a snob about your wealth.”

“Well, what can I say? This is atrocious.” Tony said, waving his hands around his room. 

“Well, we aren’t going to come and join you in your little fantasy.” Pepper stated crossing her arms.

“Ha. Funny you think you have a choice in this matter. No. You are my wife. Until death do us part. And pretty sure neither of us are dead. But the more you run, the more danger you put yourself in; I have to protect you and my son, that's my job. That little boy is my son. My son that you kept from me. I missed so much already. I’m not missing a minute more of his life.”

“Tony please understand, I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I was trying to do what’s best for him.”

“What’s best for him? Do you think taking him away from his father is what’s best for him? Oh babe, you have no idea how wrong you are. No matter where you go or what you change your name to, you’ll never be able to leave me behind. I’ll always find you and Peter. Always.”

Pepper shuddered. 

Tony reached out and grabbed Pepper’s hand. With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out her wedding ring.

“How did you find that?” Pepper asked flabbergasted. When she left, she had brought it with her. She kept it in her apartment on her nightstand. She couldn’t get herself to part with it.

“Happy looked through your apartment, found it pretty quickly. On your nightstand in a little bowl shaped like a heart? I’m flattered. But I prefer it when you wear your ring, it reminds everyone you’re mine.” Tony said as he slipped her engagement and wedding ring back onto her finger.

Pepper looked down at the ring. She had looked at it almost every night. She wouldn’t wear it, out of fear and guilt. But she would always look at it and think of Tony. The ring being back on her finger was surreal. And scary. Very very scary.

Tony didn’t let go of her hand. He pulled her hand, and she stumbled into his arms. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer to him so that they were chest to chest.

They stared at each other, never breaking eye contact. The anger in his eyes started to melt away. Instead, Pepper saw his longing eyes glance down at her lips. Pepper couldn’t help herself as she leaned in just a little closer to him. He closed the distance and crashed his lips into hers once again, awakening the lust that Pepper had forced down for so long. She had gotten by with nothing for the past two years, and the part of her that missed her husband was finally whole again.

She kissed him back for the second time today. She hated herself for being so selfish. For still melting to his touch. For still loving him.

As they were kissing, she heard little feet come stomping over. She felt one hand tug on her pants.

Tony and Pepper parted lips and looked down to see Peter staring up at them with big brown eyes.

“My turn my turn!!!” Peter bounced with a big grin on his face, pulling on both of his parent’s pants.

“You want a kiss too, Bambino?” Tony asked, scooping him up with one arm, while still holding Pepper flush against him with his other arm. He littered his little boy’s face in kisses as Peter happily giggled.

“Mommy mommy!!!” Peter squealed, reaching out to his mom. Pepper immediately wrapped her free arm around her baby. She took Peter from Tony and pulled Peter close to him. She kissed him on the cheek, and he giggled into her neck.

“It’s time,” Tony stated, putting a hand on Peter’s back. Tony sensed Pepper hesitating.

"We still have a lot to talk about, and we will, back home, where our son will be safe." Tony explained as he put an arm around his wife and gently guided her out of the Parker's apartment towards her old apartment.

Pepper could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She never wanted this. Not for Peter. She wondered if she would ever be able to see May again, or if May would hate her for what happened to Ben. 

Because right now, Pepper could only hate herself as she let herself be led out of the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh Pepper still wants Tony! 
> 
> Comments always appreciated, sorry I'm bad at responding to everyone. But let me know what you think and what might happen (or want to happen)


	6. Domestic Bliss or a Fallacy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony, Pepper, and Peter return to the Tower for Peter's first night home. Tony fills the evening with fluff and Pepper is conflicted.

She couldn’t even look at him.

Currently, she was looking out her window in the backseat of the Audi. Peter was in Tony’s lap, happily giggling and playing with his father. The father she was trying to protect him from. Tony had refused to send Happy to the nearby Target for a car seat, claiming that Peter was much safer in his lap than any cheaply made Target piece of shit. Tony swore that he would hold and protect Peter in the backseat of the car like his life depended on it. Peter didn’t seem to mind. He had never been in a car before, so he was oblivious and happy. Peter had no idea how unsafe it was to not be in a car seat. He also had no idea how the danger stretched beyond just the car ride to the tower. With Tony being in the mob, the danger would last forever. Pepper glanced over at her innocent little boy. She wished she could have done better for her son. So many ‘if she had only’ scenarios were racing through her mind, but there was nothing she could do. They were in Tony’s Audi headed to the tower, whether she liked it or not. 

_A part of her was okay with that._

As she looked at Peter, she glanced up at the father of her baby. Her heart skipped a beat looking at Tony’s soft smile. Tony looked down at his son like he was the whole world. His strong arms were wrapped softly around their boy. He was so infatuated with playing and talking to Peter. Peter grabbed at his goatee, and Tony just tickled him. Tony laughed along with his son, just happy to have his son in his arms. 

It was so pure, that Pepper could almost forget that he was a murder. Almost.

As the car entered the garage, Tony looked up from Peter. Pepper spoke before Tony could even open his mouth.

“I can carry him up,” Pepper offered, opening her door. Pepper was terrified of going back up to the penthouse after all this time. If anything, holding Peter could help calm her nerves.

“I got him, why don’t you get his bags,” Tony rolled his eyes. No way was he letting go of his son. 

“Tony, there’s nowhere for me to go but upstairs.” 

“I want to hold him,” Tony pouted.

“Fine, whatever,” Pepper rolled her eyes. So much for getting what little comfort she could from holding him.

The ride up the elevator for the family was silent. Peter just excitedly swung his legs while he was securely perched on his father’s hip.

When the elevator doors stepped open, Tony strode out, and Pepper took a hesitant step, watching the father-son duo walk forward.

“Welcome home Petey,” Tony said, kissing Peter’s cheek. Peter leaned into the kiss and hugged his father back. Peter’s arms barely wrapped around Tony’s neck, and Pepper could see how content Tony was.

But 10 seconds later, Peter was bored and wiggling to get down. He wanted to explore. There was so much to see and play with, he had to see if there were any cool Ironman toys. After all, this was Ironman’s home, and Peter figured Ironman had to have the coolest toys.

“He wants to go down,” Pepper explained when Tony didn’t appear to make any moves to let him go.

Tony looked at her, calculating whether or not it was safe to let him down. Even after all this time, Pepper could read his mind because she still knew how his mind worked.

“He won’t go anywhere; besides you have Friday to watch him.” Pepper justified. 

Tony nodded, agreeing with her. 

“Friday, watch Peter. Monitor his vitals, heartbeat, everything. Make sure he is always safe. Alert me if there’s anything at all.” Tony said.

“Got it boss, would you like to make this a protocol?” Friday asked.

“Yes, call it the Baby Monitor Protocol,” Tony confirmed.

“Yes boss, Baby Monitor Protocol is now engaged.”

Tony slowly lowered Peter to the ground. Before letting go, he kissed the top of his boy’s head. Peter ran off to look out the window at the city skyline. Peter pressed his nose against the floor to ceiling window and slapped his hands against the glass. Tony was glad the window was thick and sturdy, being bullet and shatterproof also helped.

“Pleased?” Tony asked Pepper in a bored tone.

“He is, can’t you tell? He loves all the lights in the city.” Pepper explained.

“I would know that about him if you didn’t run off,” Tony said with a hint of sadness.

“I’m sorry Tony, really I am. But –“

“If you say he was safer out there in that dump that is Queens one more time, I will lose it. I want what’s best for my family, that’s final. Family always comes first, no questions.”

“If family comes first then quit the business. If not for me than for him.”

“Even if I walked away, they would still come for us. Trust me, being here is the safest thing for him.”

“He shouldn’t have to grow up and become this, I won’t allow it.”

“You didn’t give me a choice! I didn’t even get to hold my son when he was born. Or see his first steps. Or hear his first word. I missed so much, and that’s on you.”

“I am sorry Tony, truly I am,” Pepper did feel guilty. She couldn’t imagine not getting the chance to watch her son grow. But she knew deep down that she did what was right. To give him a chance at a normal life. It was what she had to do.

“We can work this out,” Tony said, resting a hand on her shoulder soothingly and started gently guiding his wife towards the bedroom. “Besides, let’s go put his stuff in the guest room. We can get everything he needs tomorrow and convert it into his bedroom tomorrow.”

“Is there a crib in the guest room already?” Pepper asked stopping in her tracks.

“He’s not a newborn baby, does he really need a crib?”

“Yes, Tony! God, he could roll off the bed and hurt himself, he’s not old enough for a regular bed,” Pepper exclaimed.

“Oh, well what do you suggest we do? The furniture store I like is closed. I’ll send Happy first thing tomorrow and make him demand same day delivery. I am not sending Happy out now to buy some crap from some garbage cheap chain like Target or Walmart. God thinking about it scares me.” Tony faked shuttered.

“You’re so pretentious,” Pepper rolled her eyes.

“Well then where is he sleeping tonight? The floor? My son is not sleeping on the floor.” Tony complained.

“He can sleep in the guest bed with me. I’ll hold him so he doesn’t roll off,” Pepper stated.

“You mean in our master,” Tony added.

“No – “ Pepper started, but was cut off.

“Pep, you’re still my wife, you’re no guest here. Common, tell me you don’t miss our cuddles?” Tony said, dropping his hand onto the small of her back.

Pepper rolled her eyes, and walked into the guest bedroom, leaving him behind.

“You didn’t deny it.” Tony smiled.

“Tony not now,” Pepper huffed, placing Peter’s things down. 

“Yes now,” Tony protested, “You still love me, I see it in your eyes.”

“Yea well so what?!” Pepper seethed. “I have Peter to think about. What’s best for him? News flash, it isn’t the mob! You don’t seem to get that because you’re too selfish. And yea I still love you, I can’t help it! I’ll always love you, but I know it’s wrong. Everything you do in the mob goes against everything I believe. I fell in love with the sweet, eccentric man who helped people, not hurt them.”

“I do help people, what do you think Ironman is all about?” Tony explained. “I help those who need help. Real, normal, good people. It’s the bad people that I hurt. The ones like Hammer who kill innocent civilians. The Starks never kill civilians, it’s something we live by. Those that deserve to be killed are worse for society alive.”

“You don’t get to decide who lives and dies.”

“If I don’t, more good people will die. I’m making the world a better place for kids, kids like our little boy.”

“You really think you being in the mob is helping?”

“It is. Give me a chance, and I will show you how. Please.” Tony begged, taking his wife’s hand.

Pepper couldn’t help it, a tear rolled down her face. Maybe it was the fear, or maybe it was the hope that her husband wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

“Hey hey,” Tony soothed, wiping the tear from her face with his thumb. He gently cupped Pepper’s face in his hands, and she leaned into the comfort. “Don’t cry honey, it’s going to be okay.”

Pepper could only try and hold back the sob as another tear rolled down her face. Tony leaned in and kissed away her tear. 

Pepper was surprised. This was the gentle, sweet man she fell in love with. It was like the murderer inside him faded away, and the Tony she knew and loved was here. She craved that Tony for so long, and she finally was back in his arms.

Maybe she could deal with this. Maybe, he wasn’t as bad of a mobster as she thought. Maybe Peter was okay here.

_Or maybe he wasn’t._

“Sir, young Peter appears to be hungry. He is currently chewing on his hand.” Friday interrupted.

Tony leaned back from kissing Pepper’s face and took her hand.

“You hungry too?”

\--

Dinner was a fiasco. Without a highchair or a bib, Peter made an absolute mess. He was covered in tomato sauce, and half of his pasta was on his lap or on the floor. 

Despite the mess, Peter was grinning ear to ear. Being at Ironman’s house was fun. He had yummy pasta, and Ironman didn’t make him eat broccoli or peas like Aunt May and Uncle Ben would. And Ironman made a funny face every time he made a mess. So currently, Peter’s hand was smacking what was left of the pasta sauce on his plate, and smearing it on his face and shirt. 

“Okay silly,” Pepper stood up and walked over to Peter, and grabbed the end of his shirt, and pulled it up over his head. “It’s bath time.”

Peter squealed and kicked his feet as Pepper lifted the shirtless Peter into the air. Peter loved bath time, he loved splashing the water and playing with rubber ducks.

“I’nman come! I’nman come!” Peter chanted reaching one hand out towards his father.

“You want daddy to come help give you a bath?” Tony asked with a smile.

“Baf!” Peter giggled.

Tony grinned and followed his wife and son to the bath. 

Tony watched everything Pepper did to prepare the bath. From testing the bathwater temperature, to pouring water carefully on Peter’s head without getting it in his eyes, to gently rubbing the pasta sauce off the boy’s cheek, he took mental notes so that he knew what to do for next time. Tony felt like he had to know because he wanted to be involved in everything related to Peter. He had to catch back up after missing so much already. Every moment he could spend with his son he would.

As Pepper dried off a shivering Peter, she turned to him and gestured for him to take the towel.

“I’m going to grab a diaper and his pajamas; can you finish drying him up?”

“Of course,” Tony took the towel, and Peter sleepily stepped over to his dad. Tony gently rubbed his back and shoulders dry, then wrapped Peter in the towel. He continued to shiver, so Tony pulled him in close, not caring if he got a little damp. Hopefully, his own body heat would help calm his shivering boy. 

When Pepper returned, she saw her son wrapped in a towel, resting his head on Tony. She felt the soft smile creep up on her face. She let it stay, unable to force it away.

Her husband looked up and returned the smile.

As the pair worked to dress their little boy, Peter continued to blink away the sleepiness.

“Someone’s tired,” Pepper commented.

“Stowy,” Peter mumbled out leaning his head back down onto his father’s shoulder as Pepper pulled the pajama pants over his diaper.

“What?” Tony asked, unsure of what Peter said.

“He wants a bedtime story,” Pepper clarified, “I didn’t bring any of his books.”

Peter looked at his mommy with big sad eyes.

“No stowy?” He asked, his eyes filling with tears.

“I can tell you a story, common Pete,” Tony said, lifting his little boy up into his arms. Peter immediately smiled; the tears long gone. Tony strode out of the bathroom, leaving Pepper to follow. As they approached the bedroom, Pepper noticed Tony turn into the master bedroom rather than the guest room.

“Tony, we aren’t staying in the master.” Pepper complained.

“Pete, you want a story?” Tony asked.

“Mmm hmmm,” Peter confirmed.

“And you want us to cuddle, with you in the middle?” Tony asked.

“Peta’ cuddle sanwich!” Peter said happily, bouncing in his father’s arms.

“Then it’s settled,” Tony confirmed, lowering Peter to the bed. “We all sleep together tonight, deal?”

“Yay!!!” Peter giggled and clapped his hands. Tony helped him get under the covers, and Peter crawled into the middle of the bed and laid down.

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re using him to get what you want,” Pepper scolded.

“Believe me, I want both my baby’s close to me,” Tony smirked stripping down to his boxers and crawling in. “Please babe. Besides if you say no to cuddling I think Peter will cry.”

Peter was not listening at all to what his father was saying. He was entranced watching his father take off his clothing. Wanting to be just like his hero, Peter abruptly sat up and started pulling at his shirt.

“Off” Peter demanded and pointed to his shirt.

“No Peter, we wear our clothing to bed. Ironman isn’t setting a good example.” Pepper glared at Tony, who sighed and got back up out of bed.

“Alright, I’ll get a shirt. Pep, all your stuff is where you left it.”

Pepper sighed, giving up. Only Peter could convince her to sleep in the same bed as the man she left. She would do anything for Peter, anything to make him happy.

As she went to go get ready for bed, all she could think about was how conflicted she felt. She knew how terrible her husband truly was. She had seen him torturing men. But this kind, gentle Tony that she spent the last few hours with reminded her of what she had been missing the last two years. Seeing Tony with Peter made her heart melt. It made her forget all the bad things he did. But she still felt fear. Fear that she was putting Peter in danger. Fear that Peter would become a murderer. Fear that she was becoming complacent with everything that was wrong with her husband. 

When she returned, she saw Tony and Peter lying down next to each other. Tony was tickling Peter, who was laughing and kicking hysterically. 

“Oh good, mommy’s back. We can start the bedtime story,” Tony smiled and pulled back the covers for his wife to get in. She rolled her eyes, but obliged, sliding in next to Peter.

“Stowy!” Peter exclaimed and rolled over towards his mom so Pepper could wrap her arms around her son.

Tony smiled, propped his head up with the palm of his hand so he could look at his wife and son, and he began his story.

“Once upon a time,” Tony started, in a quiet, gentle voice, “there was a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist –“

“What’s a playboy fanantopis?” Peter asked rolling back into the center of the bed.

“It’s uh… a king,” Tony explained, “A very special, smart, caring king.”

Pepper rolled her eyes.

“And so, this king lived in a magical tower, and he lived on the tipity top of his tower,” Tony said, as Peter rested his head on his dad’s pillow. “One day, he met the most beautiful woman in all the land. She had strawberry blonde hair and the prettiest blue eyes.”

“Like mommy” Peter smiled, turning to look at his mom. Pepper smiled back and brushed a curl out of her baby’s face.

“Exactly like mommy. And the king knew the moment he met her that she was the one for him. The king knew that they were meant for each other and that he would do anything for her. She was graceful, classy, captivating, brilliant, beautiful, and she had the biggest heart.”

Tony paused and looked at his wife. He meant every word of it.

“When they got married, it was the best day of the king’s life. When he saw his queen walking down the aisle during the wedding, his heart stopped. He knew he was the luckiest man alive. He thought they would live happily ever after. But one day, the queen learned a secret about the king she didn’t like. And even though she loved the king, she disappeared one day. She took their son, the prince, with her.”

“Oh no,” Peter whimpered softly.

“The king was heartbroken. He cried and cried and cried because he missed his queen so much. He would do anything to find his queen again. So, he did everything he could. He had all the knights search for her, but no one found her. It wasn’t until she was in danger, where an evil man was going to hurt her.”

Scared at the thought the queen could be hurt, Peter reached out with both of his hands to pull both parents closer to him. He pulled on their shirts until they were flush against him, with his parents’ legs touching below Peter’s body.

“But the king found her. The king saved her from the dangerous evil man. And even though the queen was still mad at the king for his secret, she was willing to give him another chance. And the king did everything he could to convince her that the secret didn’t matter.”

“Hm,” Pepper huffed, rolling her eyes. The secret did matter, but she didn’t want to start an argument and rile Peter up. Tony glanced at his wife knowing what she was thinking.

“Instead, the king made a new promise. He promised to be better for the queen and the prince. He promised to be a better king, the best husband, and the greatest dad in all the land.” Tony explained and pushed his leg in between Pepper’s. She let him, and their legs intertwined together. 

Tony smiled to himself and glanced down to see his son’s eyes drooping. 

“And even though the queen was very upset, the king made another promise. He promised her that he wouldn’t keep any more secrets. He promised that they could live happily ever after, playing with their prince and having lots of fun. And the king knew that he would be the luckiest king in all the land if she gave him another chance. And every day, he did everything to make his queen love him again. So, they lived happily ever after.” Tony said quietly and looked down to see his son’s eyes closed.

Tony watched his son’s breathing even out. In the low light, he could see all the soft features on Peter’s face. The rosy cheeks, the delicate curls, the little fists that were lightly holding the blankets. Tony was entranced. He still couldn’t believe that this perfect boy was his.

Tony looked up to see Pepper’s blue eyes watching him.

“I meant what I said,” Tony confessed softly.

“What?” Pepper asked quietly.

“I promise, no more secrets. We can live happily ever after.”

Pepper sighed.

“Tony it’s not just about the secrets. It’s about what you do every day. You kill people.” Pepper whispered.

“As I said, we kill bad guys, not good people.”

“How do I know that? And how will Peter even know the difference? He won’t understand.”

“And Peter doesn’t understand the fact that you hid him from his father,” Tony seethed, trying not to raise his voice. “It’s really hard to put on a straight face and pretend to not be hurt by what you did to me.”

“If you weren’t a killer I wouldn’t have done what I had to do,”

“You should have talked to me, told me what was going on in your mind.”

“I wouldn’t have left if I did.”

“Exactly,” Tony said.

They laid there, silently looking into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity. Pepper blinked, the fatigue hitting her like a truck. She had no more energy to argue with Tony today. She let her eyes slip close. Shortly after, she felt Tony shift in the bed, and lean over and kiss her nose.

“I love you Pep. So much,” Tony whispered, and reached out and pulled Pepper and Peter closer to his chest. He left his arm to drape over her back.

“Love you too,” She sleepily muttered, falling into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've done some reflecting over the past few weeks, I'm thinking of making it a two-part series, with the second part taking place when Peter is a teen.
> 
> Thoughts?


	7. Unexpected Hope

Pepper woke up first. She wanted to sleep longer. Stay in dreamland, where none of this was happening. But reality came crashing down and hit her like a truck. Also, Peter kicked her in his sleep, so she knew she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep.

Groggily, she slipped out of bed. She looked down at her son who was sprawled out on the bed. His small chest rose and fell with each breath, each time he filled his lungs with air it revealed his little belly button since his shirt was rolled up slightly. Tony was still out, unsurprisingly. He still slept like a log. Pepper noticed how peaceful he looked in his sleep. As she looked at Tony, she wondered how she was forgiving him so fast. She figured it was because he was so damn charming, especially when he was with Peter.

She hated to admit it, but he was a good father.

But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of winning. In her nightmares, she saw Peter becoming a mobster. Mugging. Murdering. Selling weapons. Dealing drugs. Running illegal gambling rings. It terrified her.

She wouldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t let mobster Tony win. Maybe, just maybe, if he could prove he wouldn’t turn her baby into a criminal she could make this work. Let Tony be the good father he so desperately wanted to be. 

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw Peter roll over and stretch. He opened his eyes, blinked, and started to rub his eyes. He sat up, looking for his mom. When his eyes landed on her, he immediately reached his arms out, demanding to be picked up. She scooped him up quietly.

“Hungy,” Peter cried, resting his head on his mom’s shoulders. He was so hungry, he could feel his tummy rumbling. 

“Okay,” Pepper whispered. “Let’s go have breakfast.”

As Pepper walked out of the bedroom holding a sleepy and hungry Peter, she saw a redhead sitting on the couch looking down. Who had access to their penthouse? Pepper could only recall Rhodey, Happy, and Natalie, but Natalie no longer worked for Stark industries.

Right?

Wrong.

Natasha heard the footsteps and knew who it was without looking up.

“Good morning Pepper,” Nat said.

“Natalie? What- what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help you I promise,” Nat looked up, and saw Pepper’s cold eyes staring down at her.

“Hungy,” Peter cried.

“I got him sippy cups on my way over this morning. There’s milk in the fridge.” Nat commented.

Pepper raised her eyebrow but followed her instructions. She carried Peter over to the kitchen and she put Peter down on the floor to set up his sippy cup, only to have him hang off of her pajama pants. Once she closed the cap on the bottle, she held it down to Peter who eagerly reached up and grabbed it. Once Peter had his milk, he plopped down on the cool hardwood floor and tilted his head straight up, trying to get as much milk as fast as possible. Pepper looked up to see Natalie watching her.

“Tell me how Tony found me.” Pepper demanded.

“Pepper I swear I want what’s best for you and your family,” Nat promised.

“No, Natalie, you can’t possibly know – “ Nat interrupted her.

“My real name is Natasha Romanov, I’m an agent of SHEILD,” Nat explained her secret.

“Shield?” Pepper asked, more confused than before.

“Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.”

“That’s a mouthful.”

“Yea.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’ve worked for SHIELD for a long time. They sent me undercover to Stark Industries to gather intel.”

“Does Tony know?” Pepper asked.

“He does.”

“And why hasn’t he sent his mob after you?” Pepper asked scared.

“Because I work for him too. Protecting him from SHIELD.” Nat explained

Pepper paused to think.

“So, he flipped you.”

“Yes,” Nat admitted.

“I saw you over a year ago. You said you no longer worked for SI. I believed you.” Pepper complained. The hurt was evident in her voice.

“I’m sorry, I had to lie to you.”

“You’re the reason Tony found me.” Pepper realized.

Nat sighed.

“I didn’t tell him immediately after I saw you at MoMA. I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess part of me felt like it wasn’t my place, and the other part of me didn’t want to give him false hope in case we never found you. But that wasn’t how I planned on him finding you.”

“So, you ended up telling him.” A tear slipped down Pepper’s eyes.

“I didn’t, he followed me to your apartment. He saved Peter, that’s what’s important.”

“But-"

“Peter would be dead if it wasn’t for him,” Nat said, her eyes cold. Pepper shuddered in fear.

“How did that man find us?”

“Who, Hammer?”

“I think that was what Tony said his name was,” Pepper admitted, not really remembering everything Tony said yesterday.

“It doesn’t matter,” Nat said quickly.

“Yes, it does. I did everything I could to protect Peter. How did he find us?” Pepper demanded.

Nat sat there, not answering.

“Nat? I have to know.”

“You really don’t. What matters is you are safe now.”

“Did he find us through you somehow?” Nat looked Pepper in the eyes, and Pepper could see the answer was yes. Everyone knew Tony was a genius, but it slipped Nat’s mind that Pepper was also really smart. 

“I am sorry that it happened this way. And I’m sorry Ben Parker had to pay the price. Really, I am. Please forgive me.” 

“You want my forgiveness?” Pepper asked, the anger seeping through her voice. “Then you better make sure my son never has to join the mob. He deserves to have a normal childhood. It’s not selfish of me to ask that. It’s not just for me. But for Peter. For Ben.”

“What are you asking me to do?” Nat asked.

“To help us. When the time comes.”

Nat nodded. She understood.

\--

An hour later, Tony was only semi-conscious when he reached out for his wife and son in bed. When he only felt the cold sheets between his fingers, rather than the warm bodies, his eyes snapped open. His vision came into focus, and all he saw was the empty bed. It was the all too familiar feeling he woke up to every morning for the past two years. His chest felt heavy. A sense of dread flooded him. Was everything that happened yesterday just a dream? Having his wife back was a common dream he had. But this time, it felt so real. He started to panic, fearing that he had gotten his hopes up.

His panic disappeared the second he heard his door creak open. He could hear small feet padding over to the side of the bed. He felt the sheets draped over him tug as Peter hoisted himself onto the bed. Tony could see the big grin on Peter's face when he climbed all by himself onto the bed. Tony couldn’t control the brilliant smile that spread across his face as Peter crawled over and laid down on top of Tony’s chest. 

Seeing and feeling the weight of his son on his chest calmed Tony. Tony took a deep breath, watching his son’s body rise and fall with his breath. 24 hours ago, he didn’t realize how much he needed his son, the son he didn’t know about 24 hours ago. Tony felt content and secure for the first time in a long time. 

“Hi Petey pie,” Tony said, running his fingers through his boy’s hair.

“I’nman!” Peter smiled up at him and rested his head back down on Tony’s chest. Peter draped his short arms around Tony's waist, his arms not nearly long enough to wrap around half of his dad’s body.

“Peter, I’m your dad,” Tony said. While he appreciated being recognized as Ironman, he really wanted the validation of being called dad.

“I’nman.”

“Dada” Tony corrected.

“I’nman!!!” Peter giggled.

“Daddy?” Tony tried.

“I’nman.” Peter rolled his eyes, getting bored of the game quickly.

“We can work on it I guess.” Tony sighed. “You hungry?”

“Mommy gib baba,” Peter explained.

“What?” Tony didn’t understand how Mommy came so easily but Daddy was a mystery. He also didn’t understand the baby talk at all.

“Milk,” Peter wined.

“Oh, she gave you milk in a bottle? Okay but-”

“Pira’ here!” Peter interrupted.

“What?” Tony was more confused. He really needed a translator for the baby talk. Maybe he could get DUM-E to translate. But probably not. As Tony sat up, Peter wrapped one arm around Tony’s neck and with the other hand, Peter pointed in the direction of the living room.

“Pira’ wif mommy!” 

“Who?” Tony asked, getting out of bed with Peter attached to him like a koala bear.

As the father-son duo entered the living room, Tony understood what Peter was saying when he saw who the guest was in the living room. Tony couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Nick Fury frowned. After being kicked out yesterday, he made a point to come back the next morning. When he arrived Nat was already here, and he got to meet Pepper. Tony’s wife. Or so he had read in the files Nat had originally sent him all those years ago. Shortly after Fury arrived, Rhodey and Happy joined the mix. Fury thought he would be able to quickly meet with Stark and Rhodes to discuss the Avengers initiative he wanted to propose.

“Stark why are you laughing?” Fury asked with frustration.

“Peter called you a pirate! Ahhhh that’s funny because it’s true.” Tony continued laughing, while everyone else looked at Tony with bewilderment. Even Peter was confused.

“He pira’,” Peter said as if explaining it again would help everyone else who didn’t seem to get it.

“He sure is Pete,” Tony laughed and kissed his son’s forehead.

“Stark,” Fury interrupted, “We need to continue our discussion from yesterday. You know, the one that got interrupted.”

“Alright fine, but he’s hungry, I need to feed him,” Tony explained, walking towards the kitchen. He paused. “Oh Happy, can you go pick up everything we need for Peter?”

“Now?” Happy wined and stood.

“Yes now,” Tony rolled his eyes. Peter watched and tried to imitate the eye roll as dramatically as possible. Tony grinned while he watched his son copy him, and planted a kiss on his boy’s cheek. 

Pepper got up and went to Tony. She put a hand on his shoulder and he turned. 

“I got him, go, this sounds important,” Pepper said.

“Stark, I have a busy day,” Fury added.

“Alright, fine Pirate, you win.” Tony placated. 

Tony huffed out in annoyance but handed over his son. After dropping a kiss on his son’s temple, he added a kiss to his wife’s cheek. While his lips were still against her soft cheeks, he whispered out,

“I love you.”

\--

“So, let me get this straight,” Rhodey started, “You want us, the Stark Mob, to run this Avengers initiative? Use Ironman technology along with other enhanced and powerful humans to suppress other mobs, but disguise it as being earth’s mightiest heroes?”

“Close,” Fury explained. “SHIELD is up my ass about shutting down the Stark Mob. Those above me think we have enough evidence to put you and all your associates away for good, but I disagree. I think we can come to an agreement. Wouldn’t it be a shame to waste Ironman’s true potential?”

“I will never work for the government,” Tony grunted and folded his arms across his chest.

“You won’t. SHIELD –”

“Can’t afford to pay my fee I know,” Tony joked.

“Tones,” Rhodey warned. 

“You’re on thin ice Stark, and I’m offering you a solution.”

“So how would this work?” Tony asked, focus apparent.

“You stop other mobs. There are things we can’t do within the law, but there are some gray areas. That’s where you come in. Get rid of rival mobs, like you did with Hammer. You get rid of mobs that are dangerous to society, which is all SHIELD wants. And you benefit because- “

“Because we inherit their market share,” Tony concluded.

“Exactly,” Fury explained.

“And what do you want in return? You could be fired, or worse, thrown in prison for setting this up.” Rhodes asked.

“Same thing that you want. Money. Power.” Fury explained.

“You’re as corrupt as our triple agent,” Tony remarked with a grin on his face. Nat rolled her eyes, while Fury and Rhodes ignored Tony.

“But how does the heroing come in?” Rhodey asked.

“You want the public to like you right?” Fury probed.

“I wouldn’t say we want…” Tony argued.

“Yes, you do,” Nat interjected. She had been quiet, letting Fury take the lead, but he wasn’t getting the point across. “You want the public to trust the Avengers. We live in a time where mobs are randomly killing people. People want to feel safe. The Avengers can provide that. If you give the people hope, they will give you power. You think power comes from taking, but the most powerful people are given their power.”

"You think our mob can give people hope?" Rhodey asked.

"I know so. People need something to believe in right now. They need hope to hold onto. Hope and trust go hand in hand."

“You’re saying if we convince the world to trust us, we will be invincible. Untouchable.”

“Exactly,” Nat confirmed.

“So, we do a few good deeds, save the day all while destroying and stealing our enemies’ business, and the world will follow us?”

“It will,” Fury added. “How could SHIELD justify taking down the Stark Mob, when they are the heroes in the Avengers that give our citizens hope. The people will protest and call SHIELD the bad guys if we try to touch the precious Avengers. But you won’t be able to do this alone. Ironman will need help.”

“What are you suggesting?” Tony inquired.

“I have a few friends who are ready to join the Stark mob.”

“Let’s set up a meeting. We will decide if they can join.” Rhodey stated.

“It’s not up for debate.” Fury said. 

"Yes it is, I'm making it up for debate," Tony argued. 

“Trust me, you’ll like them,” Fury added.

\--

After giving Peter some cereal and bananas, Peter was restless. He ran all over the living room, trying to get his mommy to chase him. 

“Mommy ou’side!” Peter demanded, patting his hand on the windows.

“You want to go out?” Pepper asked.

“Play! Play!” Peter cried and pressed his face against the window.

“I’m not sure Friday will let us go outside.” Pepper sighed. If she knew anything about her husband, there was no way he was going to let her just walk out of the tower. Especially not with Peter.

“Nooooooo,” Peter cried. “I wanna play.”

“I know baby, let’s just play inside.”

“Nooooo,” Peter cried, tears starting to flow. He couldn’t help it, the idea that he couldn’t go outside was devastating. He burst out sobbing, the tears dripping down his face and staining his shirt. He tilted his head back, and his wails filled the room.

“Friday?”

“Yes, Mrs. Stark?”

“Friday, really? After all these years? Please, call me Pepper.”

“Boss has insisted on the formalities. I can call you Mrs. Boss if you’d like.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. Another battle for another time.

“Can I leave with Peter for the park?”

“Unfortunately not Mrs. Stark. Boss has given me strict orders to not lose sight of you.”

“Hmmm,” Pepper thought. “Isn’t Peter’s happiness a priority?”

“Of course, as of 2:30 am this morning, Boss has altered my programming to make Peter my priority.”

Pepper smiled. She had an idea. A crazy one, but she figured it might just work. She hoped it would.

“I think it’s important to consider his mental health, Friday.”

Friday paused.

“I require further information to follow your train of thought,” The AI sounded confused.

“Well, Peter is currently throwing a tantrum yes?” Pepper asked. She looked down to see her son was still wailing on the floor.

“That is correct,” Friday confirmed.

“If you let me take him to the park so that he can run around, he will be so happy. It will end his tantrum, and he usually goes to the park with me on weekends. Part of raising a child requires physical activity anyway, so going to the park to play is critical for his physical and mental health, right?”

Friday paused again.

“I can see your point.”

“So can you open the elevator for us? Since Peter is a priority, I think he needs this.”

Friday paused for a long moment, and Pepper could hear her own heartbeat ringing in her ears.

“Very well Mrs. Stark.” 

Pepper grinned when the elevator doors dinged. It stayed wide open, waiting for the mother and son to be ready.

“Okay Peter, let’s get your outside clothes on. And shoes. And a sweater.”

Pepper quickly changed out of pajamas. She quickly gathered what Peter needed from the guest room, and Peter followed close behind. He was already tugging at his pajamas, hoping to try and help get himself ready. Pepper effortlessly changed him, and Peter plopped down to put his shoes on. Once Pepper tied his shoes, Pepper quickly swooped him up and he wrapped one arm around her neck. He pointed to the elevator and squealed.

“Bye bye!” Peter sang.

“Yes, bye bye,” Pepper confirmed as the elevator doors closed and descended.

As Pepper walked out of the tower, she grinned. She could not believe that had worked. It seemed way too easy. She hugged Peter close as she continued walking down the street. She glanced around. She recognized no one in the sea of people on the street. 

Yesterday when she left May and Ben's apartment with Tony, she had lost all hope. But now, her hope was back, and it fueled her fire. Tony and his mob would never control her.

She didn’t have time to second guess herself. She picked up the pace. So many thoughts were swimming in her head. Maybe she could get to Queens. If she could find May, she could explain everything. Maybe they could get a rental car and skip town. She had to see May. She had to make sure she was okay. She had to help May because Pepper felt so guilty about what happened to Ben. She wanted to make things right by May.

At the same time, she felt bad about leaving Tony like that. She knew he would be devastated, which made her worry. There was no way he would be foolish enough to let her just walk out of the tower with Peter. Leaving the tower had been easy. Too easy. Friday’s blind spot seemed so obvious.

There was no way Tony would have allowed her to slip away so easily. 

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh shittttttttttttttt
> 
> Comments always appreciated! Hope you enjoyed, thanks for sticking with me!


	8. Your Heart Will Remember Me

As Pepper continued walking down the busy street in Manhattan, she looked around again. There were so many people in Midtown, she forgot how crazy it was around the Tower. She realized she must have looked strange, clutching a little boy and walking down a New York City street is not a common sight. Everyone with a kid in Manhattan had a stroller. She was glad that New Yorkers were always on the move and no one spared more than a glance.

She continued going forward, each step reminded her she was one step closer to May and one step further from Tony. She felt bad for Tony, or maybe she realized she felt bad for herself. But at the same time, she couldn’t dwell on her emotions. She might still long for him and she might still think about the way his eyes lit up when she walked into the room, and maybe she wasn’t upset by the fact she woke up next to Tony in the penthouse this morning, but this wasn’t about her anymore. This was about what’s best for Peter. And Peter was safer in Queens. He had a life there, with people like May who could be a good influence for him. He was safer when they were disconnected from Tony. If Nat hadn’t meddled and looked for her, Pepper and Peter would be fine. They did not need Tony and his overbearing protection.

After she rounded the corner, she looked around. Her eyes landed on a somewhat familiar face. It wasn’t one she was very familiar with, but she recognized the man in black nonetheless. 

It was one of the men from her wedding. He was one of the men who came up to her and Tony at the wedding and congratulated her for joining ‘the famiglia’. And he was looking right at her.

She quickly glanced away and took a shaky breath. She couldn’t cry, not now. Then Tony would win. No, she had to be strong. She picked up her pace. She turned left, walked one block then right, then left again, hoping she would lose him so she could go to Queens and find May. But when she looked around again, he was still following her from a distance. This time, they made eye contact. 

_Shit._

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

She was definitely being followed. She thought about how she could shake him. Maybe walk to Times Square and get lost in the crowds of people? Or maybe attempt to lose him at a busy subway station? She had to get away so that she could see May. But judging by his cold stare, he wasn’t going to let her slip away that easily.

Before she could make a decision, Peter cried out.

“Swing!!” Peter exclaimed, pointing to the playground. In her feeble attempt to lose the guy, she ended up at a park. He squirmed and leaned as far out as he could, trying to get his mom to drop him.

“Honey we have to keep going, this isn’t the park we are going to.” Pepper lied. Of course, it was a park, Peter wasn’t stupid, he’d take any park with a playground.

“Nooooo,” Peter started to cry loudly.

“Okay, okay, shhhhh, calm down,” Pepper begged as she bounced her little boy in her arms. 

_Shit._

So much for an easy escape.

Pepper quickly went through her options in her head. She could make a run for it. Maybe she could make it. But if she walked away from the park, she knew Peter would throw a massive tantrum. In public. With hundreds of random strangers watching. There was no way she could continue on her way to Queens, knowing how much more upset Peter would become. And a crying Peter would make it impossible to lose the man - the bodyguard or whoever was following her - she wasn’t really sure who he was. Tony would catch up eventually, and if he saw Pepper blatantly trying to escape, he would lose it.

Pepper shuttered at the thought.

The easier option would be to go to the park. Maybe after letting Peter play for a little bit they could slip away when the bodyguard wasn’t watching.

Pepper was still thinking over her options when Peter squirmed again.

“Hold still,” Pepper asked.

“Go go go! Play!” Peter begged.

Pepper sighed. Pepper looked back at the man following her, only to see a second man had joined him. Another familiar face from the wedding. Both were watching her carefully. They looked like they were both ready to sprint after her. Pepper sighed again and realized there was no escaping today. 

She held back the tears. She knew she wouldn’t see May today. Her heart ached thinking about how May was all alone right now. May must have been scared and confused as to what happened to Ben. Did she wonder what happened to her and Peter too?

 _Next time,_ she promised herself.

She knew that Tony would be pissed anyway for her defiance, but she figured she could at least let Peter feel like a normal kid and let him play on the playground. She gently lowered him to the ground, and Peter took off for the slide. He crawled up the stairs excitedly and stood at the top of the slide.

“Mommy Ca’ch me!” Peter giggled, and tumbled down the slide. Pepper grabbed him as he slid to the bottom and whisked him up in the air. She spun him around, which earned her some giggles.

She brought him over to the empty swing set and put him in the baby swing. His legs dangled in the holes of the swing, and he excitedly kicked his legs.

Pepper forced out a smile, knowing the men were watching her every move.

“Swing!” Peter clapped as Pepper pushed him gently.

Peter continued to giggle and excitedly babble to himself. He loved the swing. The swinging motion, coupled with the wind in his hair and the rush of excitement as he swung around made him a happy boy. 

Pepper zoned out, trying to forget everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. But she was aware enough to know she was constantly being watched. The men from the wedding, her men in black, her bodyguards, or whoever Tony had to tail her, were ever-present in the park, their imposing figures caused an old lady to clutch her purse a little tighter as she passed. They never took their eyes off of her or Peter. They just stood there, occasionally talking into what appeared to be an earpiece. Luckily, Peter was oblivious to the men watching them as he continued to giggle in the swing.

“He’s a cutie,” A deep man’s voice commented, pulling Pepper out of her daydream. Pepper turned to see a tall man with slick blonde hair smiling at her as he leaned against the slide.

“Oh, thanks, which one’s yours?” Pepper asked, eyeing him up and down as he walked closer. Pepper figured most would find him attractive, but her gut told her something was a bit off with the guy.

“She’s around here somewhere. Always keeping me on my toes.” He said not taking his eyes off of Pepper.

Pepper didn’t say anything, just turned back to her son and pushed him in the swing. She hoped the guy would go away; Pepper felt creeped out by his leering presence.

“She’s my whole world.” The man continued. 

Pepper glanced up at her bodyguards. They were watching, but Pepper noticed it looked like they were ready to pounce. Their mouths were moving, but Pepper couldn’t make out the words.

“I know what you mean,” Pepper mumbled, still watching the bodyguards.

“My name is Aldrich Killian,” He walked close to Pepper, much too close for comfort. He extended his arm out by basically shoving his hand as close to her as he could without touching her. 

“Pepper,” Pepper had no choice but to meet his hand for a handshake. His hand was sticky and gross. She tried to pull back, but he didn’t let go. She pulled again, and he pulled her closer. She looked up at him, eyes wide and full of fear.

“Let me go,” She demanded.

“Do you have a last name, beautiful?” 

Just then, a hand grabbed the back of Aldrich’s shirt and yanked him away from Pepper. Aldrich let go of Pepper and stumbled back. Tony stepped in between Pepper and Aldrich with his arms crossed and protective anger radiating out of his body.

“It’s _**Stark**_.” Tony’s icy voice was harsh. His words were full of venom. His eyes were filled with fury. Aldrich took a step back; the intimidation was working.

“Mr. – Mr. Stark,” Aldrich stammered out.

“Aldrich Killian.” Tony imposed. Aldrich flinched back.

“Sir I-”

“Last week you mugged a woman and hit her child across the face with a pistol. You claiming you have a child makes me sick to think about it.”

“Mr. Stark I-”

“I have no patience for you. But I’ll give you a ten-second lead. My friends over here,” Tony gestured to the two men who followed Pepper to the park, “want to have a nice conversation to remind you to keep your hands to yourself. They’ll make sure you’ll never be able to touch what’s mine. Lucky for you, this mistake will be your last.” 

Aldrich’s eyes bugged out of his head and he stumbled back as the two men approached. He began to ran, and the two men followed him. As they passed Tony, Tony grabbed one of them by the arm. 

“Start with the hands,” Tony whispered loud enough for Pepper to hear. The man nodded and sprinted ahead to catch Killian.

Pepper closed her eyes in fear. This was her worst nightmare come to life.

Tony turned to her, his eyes showed a mixture of possessiveness, concern, and fear. She met his gaze, and she knew.

Pepper knew she was totally screwed.

\--

Tony always felt security, especially at the Tower, was necessary. He had men stationed all over the tower, inside and out. He made sure the guards had thorough training, especially when it came to protecting those closest to him. They all knew Pepper was the priority. Every guard knew that Tony would take a bullet for his wife, and all guards were instructed to save Pepper over Tony, no matter what. This meant all guards were to talk to him directly when it came to the safety of his wife. And now, his son.

When one of his guards called him to say he saw Pepper leave with Peter, he thought it was some kind of sick joke. But Friday confirmed it, saying Pepper convinced Friday that it was necessary for her to take Peter to the park. Tony almost lost it. He might be a genius, but Pepper was just as slick. If it wasn’t for the guard that had spotted her leaving and followed her, and the other guard who joined him, he would have actually exploded with rage. He sped over in his Audi to where the guards said she was, unwilling to wait for Happy or Rhodey or Nat. At least Pepper hadn’t been stupid enough to try and skip town. At least she went to the park, like she told Friday. But he had to wonder, why did she really go to the park? The guards seemed to think she was aware of their presence. It made him wonder why she had actually left.

And when he was a block away, the guards called to say Aldrich Killian was at the park talking to his wife. Tony gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. Aldrich Killian played dirty, Tony was well aware of his record. There was no way in hell he didn’t want his guards to kill that man. Even if Killian had just looked at his wife, he would have ordered the hit. But Killian threatened his wife, making Killian's impending torture even more justifiable. And if his men weren’t there to spot Killian, Pepper and Peter could be dead.

God, his heart couldn’t take this stress.

Now, he was staring at a shaking Pepper, who looked like a deer in headlights. She looked at him, her eyes filled with fear. 

“Let’s go,” Tony stated and pulled Peter out of the swing. 

“I’nman!” Peter giggled and wrapped his arms around his father’s neck. Peter was oblivious, as always, to what was going on.

“Tony – ” Pepper was cut off.

“We will talk back home,” Tony said coldly and walked away with Peter.

Pepper chased after him.

“What is wrong with you?! You can’t – ”

“We. Will. Talk. At. Home!” Tony gritted out, pausing between each word.

Tony swung open the back door of the Audi to reveal a car seat. Since when did Tony have time to pick up a car seat? Pepper figured Happy must have gotten it and installed it while Tony was meeting with Fury and she was escaping.

Despite his anger, Tony gently lowered their son into the car seat. Pepper watched as Tony made their boy giggle by making swooshing noises as he buckled the seat. Pepper saw Tony smile and lean over to plant a kiss on Peter’s head. Tony closed the door and smiled at Peter again through the window.

When he turned, the smile was gone. Instead, he scowled, and the fear and concern were back in his eyes. He sniffed and took a step closer to Pepper.

“We are going home, and we are going to talk about this,” Tony explained.

“You can’t just do whatever you want and expect us to be happy.” Pepper exploded. She was so angry at him for everything. From his lies all those years ago, to ripping them away from Queens, to suggesting methods to torture Killian in front of their son.

“Get in the car,” Tony said, his tone suggesting he was about to blow any second.

\--

The car ride was silent. Peter was mesmerized by the world passing him by. He stared out the window, his big brown eyes looked up at all the buildings they passed. 

In Tony’s attempt to remain calm, Tony kept his eyes on the road. His eyes occasionally glanced in the rearview mirror. To check the traffic, but mainly to check on his son. 

Pepper watched Tony for a while. She tried to read him, but his oddly calm expression scared her. She couldn’t look at him anymore, so she stared out the window and waited for her impending doom. Her knee bounced nervously. Luckily, Tony didn’t comment.

As they pulled into the garage, she was surprised to see Happy there waiting for them. As Tony and Pepper got out of the car, Happy opened the backseat. 

“Happy what are you doing?” Pepper asked nervously.

“Happy is taking Peter to show him all the new toys Daddy got him.”

“Toys?” Peter asked, his eyes gleaming at the possibilities of new toys. Happy pulled Peter out of the car seat and onto his hip.

“Common kid, let’s go open all of your new toys,” Happy bounced Peter, who giggled and clapped excitedly.

Pepper took a step forward to follow Happy and Peter, but Tony grabbed her hand. She shot him a daring glance, but he stared back just as harshly.

“I’m following my son,” Pepper announced.

“He’s safe with Happy. And we need to talk.”

“You know spoiling him with toys isn’t what he needs.”

“He deserves everything and anything,” Tony stated matter of fact. Tony paused.

“Besides, you can’t just change the topic. We have to talk.” Tony complained.

“So are you going to hurt me like you did Killian?” Pepper blurted out, the fear making her voice tremble.

Tony’s jaw dropped.

“You think I would hurt you? Pep are you serious?” Tony softly asked. He took her shaky hand in his and gave her hand a squeeze. He pulled on her hand lightly and guided her to the elevator.

“Today was really scary for me. And you’re mad which is making me more scared. And you kill people for a living.” Pepper whispered as the elevator doors closed and began going up.

“You’re right. I am mad. Furious that Killian thought he could touch you. And I’m mad you put yourself in danger. But I don’t want to scare you, so I’m trying to calm down. But do you know how scary today was for me when I found out you had left? So forgive me if I’m having trouble calming down!”

“Tony you scare me,” Pepper admitted. Tony’s eyes widened, and Pepper could see the pain in his eyes so clearly.

“You know I would never hurt you. Or Pete. It’s just- why did you leave?”

“I wanted to take Peter to the park, he was throwing a tantrum. He needed to go outside.” Pepper lied.

“Is that really why you left?” Tony asked insecurely.

“What do you want me to say? I told Friday where I was going. And where did you find us? Oh yea, at the park, like I said!”

“Tell me the truth,” Tony whispered. Pepper looked him dead in the eye.

“If I was on the run, why would I stop at the park? Do you know what I want to know? How can you justify what you do? Your world includes killing people. That’s not the world I live in, or want to raise my son in.”

Tony listened, but he didn’t believe her. He was in the business of lying, and besides, he could read his wife like an open book. She was lying. She was diverting the subject as best as she could. This was a problem for Tony. But Tony liked challenges, and he especially loved tinkering with and solving complex problems. 

Pepper had to learn to never lie to Tony. Tony knew it was critical for their family’s safety. And dammit, he was going to give her that lesson.

“Pep I know you’re scared and I’m sorry. Let me protect you, and you won’t be scared again.”

“Sorry doesn’t fix it! Sorry doesn’t fix that you’re still in the mob!”

“Please understand,” Tony begged as the elevator doors opened. He took her hand and led her out of the elevator. “I just want to keep you safe. It’s my job to protect you, don’t you see that? I want to make this work. Us.”

“How can we? When I can’t live with what you do,” Pepper admitted, a tear rolling down her cheek. Tony noticed and pulled her closer so they were face to face.

“I promise to leave work at the door. I won’t talk about the mob, or bring any mob business to our floor.”

“I’d rather you quit.”

“You know I can’t do that, but this is a compromise. Compromising is a thing we need to do, right? Please just give me, us, a shot.”

“And what about Peter?” Pepper asked.

“What about him?” Tony asked, guiding them both to their bedroom.

“Promise me you won’t make him do what you do. Ever.” Pepper looked him dead in the eye.

Tony paused only for a moment, the words carefully crafting in his head.

“He will never have to do the things I do now.”

_Because Ironman and the Avengers will clear the way for Peter. Tony will take over the world, and Peter will inherit the world. No one will ever challenge the Starks. Peter won’t have to lift a finger to rule over the Stark Empire or the world._

“Really?” Pepper asked her voice quiet but full of hope.

“Really,” Tony smiled and rubbed her arm reassuringly. 

“You know, sometimes I still think about what you did to those men I saw in the conference room on the 38th floor.”

“Don’t think about that,” Tony begged as he sat down on the bed.

“How can’t I? Do you know how scary it was to see that?”

“You know what’s scarier?” Tony diverted, trying to avoid discussing that day, “In the span of 24 hours, two different people tried to hurt the one thing I need to protect the most. That’s my family. You and Peter.”

“Tony, what do you want me to say? That I wasn’t scared? Because I was terrified! Knowing Peter almost got killed, then that man not letting go of my hand. I’m scared of this world you operate in, really really scared!”

“Let me protect you from everything. I can keep you safe.”

“Can you? I feel like we are just going in circles. You’re telling me you want to keep me ‘safe’ but I just want to give Peter a normal life, not in the mob!”

‘But once I teach you the lesson you need to learn, there won’t be any more fights,’ Tony thought but did not dare to say. He had to be strategic. He knew the lesson would have to be a surprise.

“Everything I do protects you and Peter. Every territory I gain is another step closer to being safer than before.” Tony said as he sat down on the bed and took both of Pepper’s hands in his, pulling her closer so that she was standing over him.

“I thought you said you wouldn’t ever talk about business,” Pepper said. “That you would quit.” 

“You’re right I said I wouldn’t talk business, but I didn’t say I would quit. Gosh Mrs. Stark, are you trying to put words in my mouth?” Tony asked, a smile formed as his hands caressed her hips.

“Maybe,” Pepper admitted. “I was kinda hoping it would work.”

“Speaking of work,” Tony pivoted the subject, “your boss at whatever hellhole in Queens you were slumming… I mean working at, called like 10 times.”

Tony took his hands off of Pepper’s hips and rummaged through the nightstand. He pulled the phone out of the drawer and unlocked the phone. Pepper reached out for it, but Tony turned out of the way to dodge her.

“Common this isn’t even a Stark Phone, Pep! And your password is Peter’s birthday, that’s not secure.”

“Give it back Tony,” Pepper warned, reaching out for it again as he continued to hold it just out of reach.

“I can call your boss, demand a raise for you. But that’d be kinda pointless. I’m promoting you anyway.”

“What? Don’t call my boss! Promoting me? What are you talking about?” Pepper was starting to get frustrated.

“Effective immediately, I am making you sole CEO. None of this co-CEOing with me anymore. I want you to run the company.”

“What?”

“I, Tony Stark, am making you, Mrs. Virginia Stark, the CEO of SI. You start now. I have about a thousand and one things for you to do.”

“Tony you can’t be serious.” Pepper stopped reaching for her phone.

“I am serious. I want you to run the company. I need you back. Obviously, the legal parts of SI. I’ll be busy with the Avengers.”

“The Avengers?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard of us?” Tony joked. “We are earth’s mightiest heroes. Ironman and whoever else Fury picks up will be the world's newest and greatest crime fighters.”

“What?” Pepper asked, her face scrunched up in confusion.

“Pep, I’m becoming a hero. Save the day all that jazz. Besides you’re getting me off-topic. Your phone,” Tony jingled the phone in his hand as if to taunt Pepper.

Pepper was having none of it though. She stood over Tony as he sat on the bed, and reached out for the phone. When he held it behind his back, she leaned down over him and reach out behind him. He flopped onto his back, tucking the phone under his back. He looked up and smiled cutely at her.

“You drive me insane,” Pepper rolled her eyes. She was still standing over him so she reached her hands under his back to try to grab his phone. Tony grinned at her.

“You look so beautiful, even when I get you all flustered,” Tony flirted.

“Tony,” Pepper scolded, and continued her search under his body. Tony reached up to her with a soft smile on his face. He wrapped his hands around her back and pulled her flush against his body.

And she could feel every inch of him below her.

If Pepper was being honest with herself, she had been terrified earlier today when Killian grabbed her hand. When Tony stepped in between, she was flooded with a sense of relief. She had felt safe. She was grateful that nothing bad happened but disappointed she didn’t escape. At least Tony didn’t seem to see through her plot to escape. After all, Friday told Tony she was heading to the park, which is exactly where he found her. Maybe Tony would trust her more. 

_She thought that maybe, if she could gain a little more trust, she could make a run for it and actually escape._

_He thought that maybe, she was already starting to fall back in love with him. All she needed was a gentle push, a lesson that would remind her how much she loved him, and wouldn’t want to run._

Pepper broke the eye contact to look at the phone. It was no longer hidden under Tony; it had been pushed off to the side. When she looked back at Tony, she saw the longing in Tony’s eyes. It woke up something deep inside her, something she had been trying to suppress as much as possible.

She pictured her fantasy so easily. 

She would slip her hands under his shirt and feel his sculpted muscles. 

He would pull her in for a kiss. His hands would dip into her pants and he would squeeze her ass, grinding her body against his.

She would take off his clothes slowly, starting with the shirt and working her way down to his pants, kissing him all the way down. She’d tease him by stopping at the tip, feeling how hard he already was.

He would return the favor by stripping her quickly and flipping them over. Once on top, he would start with her breast, caressing every inch with his tongue. He would mark her whole body with his mouth.

She would moan and beg Tony to get inside her. To stop teasing her by hovering his tip just outside of her clit and just enter her already. To go deeper inside of her.

She shook her fantasy out of her mind violently. With all her might, she pushed back the longing and tried not to think about all the things she wanted to do to him.

Pepper maintained eye contact as she lifted her body up and crawled up to Tony’s face so that their noses were touching. He grinned up at her, his hands lightly gliding down her back, beckoning for her to lie back down on top of him. She maintained eye contact and kept him distracted while she reached to the side, feeling around for her phone. She smiled and quickly grabbed it.

As fast as she could, she hoisted herself up off of Tony. Her sudden movements startled him. She looked back down at him, and she could see how flustered he was. He definitely wasn’t expecting the turn in events, and clearly, he was bummed. But in Pepper’s mind, she wouldn’t reward him for bad behavior.

“I’m going to go check on Peter, he’s probably hungry,” She admitted as she fixed her hair and clothing.

“You’re such a tease,” Tony complained. 

He was horny as hell now, and all he could think about was pulling his wife back into bed with him. He wanted her so badly. He wanted to wrap his arms around her naked body, to feel every inch of her, to feel himself inside of her. His dick throbbed at the idea.

“But I’ll wait until you’re ready,” Tony admitted. He couldn’t force himself onto his traumatized wife. He needed to know that her heart wanted her as much as he did. That he still captured her heart the same way she owned his.

To Tony, this morning had proven that they could not go on fighting like this. That he had to do something. Playing the nice, understanding, forgiving husband wasn’t working for Tony. He had her back physically, but her heart wasn’t fully there.

He was going to fix that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry she didn't escape, but I think Pep deserves a more exciting escape right? 
> 
> Few notes from me:  
> 1\. Poor Pepper  
> 2\. Tony is a hypocrite  
> 3\. I probably won't do too many steamy scenes (unless you want me to)  
> 4\. Thanks again for all the comments! I'm trying to get better at responding but I'm still a sporadic mess


	9. The Heroes We Cultivate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet the Avenger's (finally!) and new friendships are formed

“So pirate, where are they?” Tony asked Fury.

Tony, Nat, Rhodey, and Fury were standing in Tony’s office early Monday morning after Fury insisted on a meeting. Fury claimed it was critical that the Avengers meet each other, but for Tony, he just wanted to get this meet and greet over with. Tony wanted to just give these guys a list of targets and send them on their way to get their jobs done. 

In reality, Tony wasn’t all that interested in the Avengers initiative. There was no I in team after all. And he really didn’t like having to listen to others and take orders. Tony was the one to make orders, and he wasn’t about to take a demotion. He also wasn’t keen on making friends, especially not turning any associates into buddies. Too many of his crew had died trying to infiltrate other mobs, so why bother to get to know these guys? Tony didn’t have high expectations of Fury and his merry band of misfits. Fury was SHIELD after all.

“Ask your security, they are the ones who stopped them for a pat-down.” Fury retorted.

“That’s what I pay them for, how do I know you’re not bringing people to kill me?” Tony questioned as Nat rolled her eyes.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Fury asked and Rhodey shook his head in annoyance.

“Well…” Tony started but was cut off by a knock on the door.

“Enter,” Fury called out.

“Hey this is my office,” Tony complained. Fury glared at him but quickly turned his attention back to the door.

“There they are,” Fury nodded as the 4 men entered the room. 

Tony sized each man as they entered. The first to walk through the door was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, muscular dude. Off the bat, he realized maybe Fury did better than he expected. This man was built, really built. Tony figured he could easily win any fight and could take down anyone Tony asked him to. 

Not too bad.

The second man that entered was just as built. His long blonde hair flowed freely, and he had a goofy grin on his face. Tony could immediately tell he might not be the smartest, but with him and the other blonde, they could intimidate anyone who thought about crossing him.

The next man was a smaller blonde. But he had a calculating look on his face. It reminded Tony a lot of how Nat would enter a room. While not as large, he might be able to do just as much damage.

Finally, the last man seemed the most out of place. His messy brown hair fell into his eyes, and he looked around like he was in trouble. He wasn’t particularly built, with clearly no muscles. He walked into the room nervously and looked like he was about to explode any second.

“Stark, I’d like you to first meet Captain Steve Rogers.” The first blonde man reached his hand out. Tony took his hand and was impressed by the firm handshake.

“Quite the handshake Cap,” Tony quipped.

“He’s enhanced.” Fury commented. 

Tony had heard about enhanced individuals before. Tony vividly remembered his father talking about their potential in the mob. Howard had been obsessed. He wanted them, saying they were needed. Enhanced associates were the only way the Starks could ever have complete control over all of New York. Being stronger and faster than anyone else, they were perfect for taking down rivals and controlling their crew.

“And this is Thor,” Fury motioned to the long blonde-haired man who entered second. His handshake was just as strong.

“My name is Thor Odinson,” Thor boomed as he approached Tony. His handshake was just as strong as Steve’s. He figured he might be enhanced too.

“Thor thinks he’s a god,” Fury whispered.

“With his size, he could pass as one,” Tony commented but quickly regained focus and turned his attention to the third man.

“And this is Agent Clint Barton. He is an excellent marksman and archer.”

Tony nodded shook Clint’s hand. He could always use a skilled shooter. 

“Finally this is Dr. Bruce Banner,” Fury motioned to the nervous brunette. 

“You’re Bruce Banner?” Tony asked. He had heard of the legendary doctor, aka the science experiment gone wrong. Tony was fascinated by the man, and couldn’t believe he was finally meeting him.

“Yes, I am Dr. Bruce Banner,” Bruce held his hand out, and Tony eagerly grabbed it.

“It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled, and I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

“Thanks,” Bruce nodded and looked down.

“Dr. Banner is only here to lend us his brain, meaning we won’t be needing that enormous green rage monster.”

“That’s surprising. No, I guess it’s not surprising,” Tony said with a great deal of disappointment.

“Don’t worry, there’s a lot we have in store,” Fury consoled.

“Gentlemen, and Nat, let’s discuss in a conference room,” Rhodey suggested.  
\--

“So let me get this straight,” Steve said. 

Tony rolled his eyes. He might be a pretty boy, but he sure wasn’t as smart as Tony. Or Bruce, who looked equally frustrated.

“So this Loki, he’s your brother?” Steve asked Thor.

“He’s adopted,” Thor mumbled.

“And he is leading the Chitauri mob?” Steve asked.

“Yes,” Clint rolled his eyes.

“Why?” Steve asked. “Why cross you and your father, when your family has always sided with the Starks.”

“He wants power, and he thinks this is the way to get it,” Thor explained.

“And you think he has some plan to try and take control of the Stark mob and then the rest of New York?” Steve continued to ask.

“The Stark mob is the only one standing in his way. Stark has the weapons to keep him laying low. Word on the street is he has something better than Ironman.” Nat explained.

“And any threat to the Starks is not tolerated,” Tony said, his eyes dark. He hadn’t dealt personally with the Chitauri. He had heard reports of some of his men getting mixed up with them before, but they had always been relatively small events. Nothing Tony had ever considered a big enough threat to get directly involved with.

“And the Chitauri are worth more to SHIELD than Stark?” Steve asked.

“They are a threat because we don’t know what they are capable of or what they are planning. SHIELD knows what Stark is capable of. If we can take down Chitauri, SHIELD will be more than satisfied. It’ll prove that the Avengers are needed. And that the Starks are on our side.”

“Um, you don’t know what I’m capable of,” Tony argued.

“Yea we do man, I read the report Fury gave us,” Clint said.

“Let’s go to my training room, and you’ll see what the report definitely didn’t say,” Tony whispered to Clint. Tony grinned as he stood up.

Rhodey, Clint, Thor, and Steve all smiled too. This would be fun.

\--

Everyone had brought their gear to practice. Tony was glad since he could show off and not just sit in a boring meeting. And, as another bonus, Fury left after the debrief in the conference room.

As Clint shot an arrow, Tony blasted the arrow mid-air with his repulsor. Nat threw a knife at Clint, who dogged it easily. Thor stealthily watched Steve practice his punches on a punching bag, and threw his hammer at Steve as hard as he could. But Steve whipped around and caught it, and threw it back. Thor grinned. 

Rhodey flew in as War Machine and shot at Thor, who jumped out of the way. Tony blasted his repulsor at Rhodey which hit him in the shoulder knocking him back. The Avengers continued to practice, completely in their own world. Bruce stood off to the side, observing awkwardly.

Bruce watched, unsure of what to do. He was the Hulk, but he didn’t want to be. He wanted Hulk to never take his body over again. He never wanted to hurt people. He didn’t want to use the Hulk to do evil. Sure, he wanted some of the other mobs off the street, but joining a mob to do that? He wasn’t so sure. But Fury came to him ready to out him as the Hulk. If he didn’t join the Avengers, SHIELD would send him to The Raft forever. So here he was. Maybe he could do some good here. But did Stark even have a heart? He seemed cold. Frankly, he acted and looked exactly like what Bruce pictured as a mob boss. The man might be brilliant, but he seemed dangerous. As if the only thing he cared about in the world was money and power. That wasn’t the kind of person Bruce wanted to be associated with.

Bruce was so wrapped up debating whether or not Tony had a heart or not that he didn’t initially hear the door open. He only noticed that someone new entered the room when he felt a tug on his pants leg. 

Bruce looked down to see the biggest brown eyes he had ever seen before. The little boy was staring up at him, his mouth agape. 

“Um… hi,” Bruce greeted. The little boy pointed to Tony.

“I’nman!” The boy said.

“Yea that’s Ironman,” Bruce agreed, kneeling down to meet his eye level. “And…. Umm… who are you?”

“Peta!!!” 

“Peter? Hi I’m Dr. Bruce Banner.” Bruce held out his hand, and Peter took it giggling. Bruce noticed how light Peter’s handshake was, but it was unsurprising for a little kid. Peter was quickly distracted from the handshake, staring at the shiny thing on Bruce’s wrist. With both of his hands, Peter started playing with Bruce’s watch.

“You like my watch?”

“Wach” Peter mimicked, completely focused on the shiny gadget.

“Yea it tells time, are you familiar with the concept of time and numbers?” Bruce asked, unsure of how to engage the child in conversation.

“One, two, tree, fo’, five, sis, sehven, eigh, nine, ten, eweven, twelwe...” Peter rambled.

“Wow you are pretty smart, how old are you?” Bruce asked.

Peter held up 1 finger, but then added, “I big boy. I two in Augus.”

“Wow okay wow,” Bruce commented, unsure of what to say. Bruce had not spent much time studying the intricacies of child development, but he knew this boy was definitely ahead for his age.

“You play wif I’nman?” Peter asked.

“Yes… we are friends?” Bruce explained, but it sounded like a question.

“We bes frens,” Peter commented, rubbing Bruce’s watch.

“You know Tony?” Bruce asked, but noticed the confusion on Peter’s face. “I mean Ironman?”

“Yea bes frens!” Peter giggled.

Bruce glanced up, to see Tony and Rhodey were still fighting. But he noticed Clint and Thor staring at the young boy, and Bruce watched the pair come over.

“And who is this young man?” Clint asked.

“Peta,” Peter said, reaching out to touch the bow in Clint’s hand.

“I’m Hawkeye, but you can call me Clint. You like my bow?” Clint asked.

Peter nodded excitedly and reached for it again, his hand lightly grazing the cool metal.

“What do you think of my hammer young Peter?” Thor asked, setting the hammer down next to the boy. Peter immediately turned his attention to the hammer, studied it, then tried to lift it up. He wrapped his two small hands around the handle and lifted with all his strength. He scrunched his nose in concentration. His little body shook as he tried as hard as possible to lift the hammer, but he couldn’t. Peter frowned in disappointment.

“That’s alright young Peter, one day you will be stronger than me!” Thor reassured, picking up Peter and throwing him in the air. Peter screamed in excitement. Thor caught Peter in the air and put a giggling Peter back on the ground. 

“ ‘Gen!!!! ‘Gen!!!” Peter giggled, reaching his arms up making grabby hands. Thor threw him up a few more times, but when he tried to set him back on the ground, Peter clung on.

“You have quite the grip there, young man,” Thor commented, threw him once more, and set him down again. This time, Peter let go. 

If anything, Bruce noticed how short of an attention span this kid had. He ignored Clint and Thor as he wandered into the training room more, walking towards the fight. Bruce didn’t let him walk any further into danger though. Bruce caught up with the kid before he could walk any further into danger. He tapped Peter on the shoulder, and when he didn’t turn around, Bruce tried another tactic.

“Hey Peter, come sit next to me and I’ll explain what they are doing, and umm… we could play?” Bruce suggested awkwardly. 

Peter turned with a grin, and ran over to Bruce and took his hand. Bruce led Peter back over to Thor and Clint.

“You guys go back to training, I’ll stay with him,” Bruce said as he passed Thor and Clint. They didn’t need to be told twice as Thor threw his Hammer at War Machine and Clint shot an arrow at Captain America.

Bruce sat down on the floor where he was originally standing, and Peter plopped down next to him. Deciding it wasn’t close enough, Peter crawled over to sit on Bruce’s lap. Bruce didn’t stop him, but he seriously wondered who this kid was and why he was so trusting. And why he seemed so fascinated by Bruce. He was just… Bruce.

“I’nman!” Peter pointed again to Tony, who was swooping down to attack Thor, completely obvious of the young boy in Bruce’s lap.

“They’re training to catch bad guys,” Bruce explained as Peter shifted in Bruce’s lap to get a better view of the fighting.

“Tony… err Ironman… is pretty smart, but Steve, we call him Captain America, is super strong. So is Thor. But Clint and Nat are good at strategy.” 

“Wha’s sra’egy?” Peter asked.

“Well, it’s like planning. Basically, they know what they want and they think up ways to get exactly what they want.”

“Wan toys?” Peter asked.

“Yea exactly, they want toys and they’re trying to think of ways to get new toys,” Bruce said. Really, the Avengers wanted power, and to do that, the strategy included threats and murders. But the kid didn’t need to know that. 

“Help?” Peter wondered.

“Yea they want to help by getting bad guys off the street.”

“I help!” Peter exclaimed and pointed to himself.

“Maybe when you’re older you can help take down bad guys.”

“I gonna help,” Peter agreed and leaned back onto Bruce’s chest. 

Bruce didn’t know what else to say, so he didn’t say anything else. They just watched the group train in comfortable silence.

In just a few hours, the Avengers got more comfortable with one another. They learned from each other’s different fighting techniques. Sometimes they would huddle up to discuss ways to improve form or discuss how rival mobs tend to fight so they could try to simulate the future fights they anticipated. But they were so focused, they never glanced towards Bruce and Peter. 

After what felt like forever, the Avengers were finally running out of energy to practice. Ironman and War Machine had teamed up and were beating the crap out of Captain America, Thor, and Hawkeye, while Nat lurked in the corner. She was observing the room when her eyes landed on Bruce and Peter. She knew how protective Tony was over Peter, so she immediately went over to the two.

“Hey Nat,” Bruce greeted, looking up at her. Peter also looked up but didn’t say anything.

“Hey Bruce, hey Peter,” Nat replied. 

“You know Peter?” Bruce asked curiously.

“He’s Tony’s kid, and he definitely shouldn’t be down here. What are you doing creeping around here you little spider?” She asked, reaching down to tickle him. Peter giggled and squirmed in Bruce’s lap, looking for protection in Bruce’s arms. Bruce’s jaw dropped. He had no idea Tony had a kid.

“Wach wif Bruce!” Peter said through the giggles.

“Where’s mommy? Does she know you’re down here?”

“I sneak ‘way,” Peter whispered mischievously.

“That’s what I thought, common Peter, I’ll bring you upstairs before Tony sees you’re down here. He won’t be happy.” Nat explained and reached for Peter’s hand.

Peter took her hand, and she helped pull him to his feet. As they started to walk away, Peter stopped. He turned back to look at Bruce, and let go of Nat’s hand. Peter ran back over to Bruce and jumped back into Bruce’s arms. Bruce hugged him back, and oddly enough to Bruce, Peter made direct eye contact while they hugged. 

“Bye-bye Buce!” Peter giggled as he pulled out of the hug and ran back to Nat, who was holding her hand out for him to come back. As Nat took his left hand, he waved back to Bruce with his right hand.

“Bye Peter,” Bruce said and waved back to Peter. He watched the boy leave with Nat.

The second the doors closed behind Nat and Peter, Bruce turned around to see Tony and Rhodey staring down at him.

“Whatcha doing on the floor Dr. Banner?” Tony asked.

“Oh, you know… watching?” Bruce said like a question. Bruce wasn’t sure if he should mention the fact that Peter, who turned out to be Tony’s secret child, was here for the past hour watching them fight. Probably sitting too close to the action for someone so young. Bruce figured it was probably for the best that he kept the secret of his newfound friendship between him and Peter. And Nat.

“Being a spectator is hard huh?” Rhodey jokingly asked.

“Yea, you’ve been at it for what? Three hours?” Bruce asked, checking his watch.

“Hey that’s a cool watch Dr. Banner,” Tony commented as he looked at it. “Is it Swiss?”

“Uh yeah it is,” Bruce said and looked up to see Tony staring at his wrist. Huh. Bother father and son gravitated towards his watch. Bruce could only wonder what else was similar between the two. 

“Any recommendations Dr.?” Tony teased, thinking he wouldn’t get any.

“What?” Bruce inquired, realizing he zoned out contemplating Peter and Tony’s similarities.

“Any ideas based on your three hours of observations?” Tony explained.

“Oh, yeah. Well, I think we can make some upgrades to everyone’s suits. For example when you and Rhodey fly you notice how noisy it is? I think there’s a way we can make your flight stealthier.”

“And how would you do that?” Rhodey asked with clear interest. Even Tony perked up.

“You know how some birds have really loud flight patterns while others are silent? I think we can use that concept to our advantage. If we can cut down on the air turbulence, we can make a stealth mode. Maybe include a chameleon effect to your suit when in stealth mode.”

Tony grinned.

“Let me show you the labs, Dr. Banner. I think we are going to make a great team.”

\--

The rest of the week went by rather normally. To an outsider, it would seem as though the couple had a relatively normal life for, well, a powerful couple. 

Pepper went back to working as the CEO for Stark Industries. She did her best to accept her fate. For the time being, there was no escaping. Her guards were watching her 24/7, and with the help of Friday, she knew every breath she took was monitored. She figured Tony was being paranoid, but she realized it was somewhat rightfully so. She did after all try to escape. And she would try again the next time she got the chance.

Pepper was loaded with meetings, resulting in Happy turning into a babysitter. At least Peter adored him and generally listened to Happy. There were only a few instances where he snuck away from Happy to look for Pepper. With the help of Friday, he would usually find Pepper in her office and would sit on her lap and help her with all of her work. Peter fully believed he was helping run the company, and Pepper was happy to keep him close, and away from any mob business. 

If he couldn’t find Pepper, he would look for or Tony or Bruce. He rarely found Tony, but when he did, Peter would play in the lab trying to getting his father to chase him or he would sit in on mob meetings. In Tony’s mind, Pepper didn’t have to know about that.

If he found Bruce, he would sit on his lap and watch Bruce work. Bruce wasn’t sure whether or not to mention his newfound friendship to Tony, but he figured there was no harm since Peter was a happy and easy kid to spend hours with. Peter was fascinated with anything and everything Bruce did. Everything Bruce did, Peter watched with amazement. Bruce would simplify and explain most of what he was doing to the best of his ability, and Peter seemed to understand. Peter seemed to gravitate towards Bruce, much to the astonishment of Bruce. 

Peter’s fascination was Bruce was mirrored by Tony. Tony would occasionally come down to the lab just to talk to Bruce about ideas. Tony dubbed them ‘science bros’ and Bruce nervously chuckled and agreed. Who was he to say no to a mob boss? At least Tony turned out to be nicer than Bruce hypothesized. Luckily, Peter was never there when Tony would spontaneously show up. 

Tony and the Avengers continued to meet every day. They would train together for hours, debrief and plan their next attack. On Friday they went to scope out some rival mobs, but did not attack. They were waiting for the right moment, which Steve assured them it would be soon.

At least Pepper, Tony, and Peter had the weekend together. As a family, they had a relatively normal weekend. They slept in as late as they could until Peter shook them awake. He insisted they play with him all day Saturday; which Tony was happy to do. 

And while Tony had been busy all week, he didn’t forget about his lesson for Pepper. All week he thought about it. Planned it meticulously. It was Sunday now and Tony had finalized his plan to fix everything with Pepper, to rebuild their trust. 

His plan?

To take Peter with him to Malibu for a few days. Without telling Pepper. And without taking her.

To Tony, if he could show Pepper how much pain she caused him by taking away his son before he was even born, Pepper would finally be able to understand his point of view. He knew she would be upset, hell, she’d definitely yell at him. But he could point out how that’s exactly what he felt. But look at him! He was able to put their son first and forgive Pepper for everything. Therefore, Pepper needed to accept Tony and his life. He couldn’t change who he was, especially not his mob ties, so Pepper had to acknowledge that and take him for who he was.

So on Sunday, Tony thought over his plan as they played with Peter until it was time for his nap. Peter at first refused to take a nap, crying that he wanted to keep playing even as he yawned. But when it was clear Peter was too tired to even stand up, Tony scooped him up and hugged him close to his chest while telling Peter a story. Peter looked up at his father with his big eyes, listening intently. He tried to stay awake, but his eyes quickly drooped and he fell asleep in Tony’s arms.

Even when Pepper suggested putting Peter in the newly assembled crib, Tony refused to let go of his son. 

“Tony let him rest,” Pepper complained.

“He is resting,” Tony whispered.

“You know what I meant,” Pepper said, rolling her eyes.

“If I put him down, he’s going to cry.”

“No, he won’t,” Pepper insisted.

“Fine,” Tony surrendered and walked into Peter’s room. But as he went to lower Peter in his crib, Peter began to whimper. Tony immediately stopped lowering him, and brought him back up to his chest, with Peter’s head falling in the crook of his arm.

“See,” Tony grinned walking back into the main room.

“Good luck holding him in your arms like that for an hour,” Pepper smirked.

And she was right. Because after 20 minutes, Tony’s arm hurt like hell. But he would happily suffer through the pain if it meant holding his son. He sat down on the couch, relieving some of the strain on his arms. He looked down at his son, who was drooling on his chest.

“How’s your arm feeling?” Pepper gave him a once over, clearly seeing his discomfort.

Tony shifted his arm with a grunt and accidentally jostled Peter a little too much. He whined and blinked his eyes open.

“Mommy,” Peter whimpered. 

Peter rubbed his eyes, sat up in his father’s arms, and looked around. When Peter’s eyes landed on Mommy, he reached out to her. Pepper got up from her spot on the couch and sat down next to Tony. Peter crawled over to sit on her lap. He snuggled into her arms and rested his head against her chest, his legs dangled over Pepper’s legs onto Tony. Pepper wrapped her arms around him, one hand running through his curls. Peter leaned into the touch, burying his head into her chest, listening to her heartbeat.

When she heard Peter’s breathing leveling out, she sighed and rubbed his back. She finally looked up to see Tony staring. She could see the wheels in his brain turning. 

“He just…” Tony whispered. “Prefers you.”

“Tony,” Pepper sighed. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“All he’s ever known is you. I’ll never be as close to him.” Tony choked up. It was his worst fear. Tony noticed a lot of little things this past week about Peter. When he was cranky or sad, he picked Pepper over him 100% of the time. Peter’s eyes lit up way more for Pepper when she came back from working downstairs as SI’s CEO. Peter always wanted Pepper to give him a bath. Peter always cried for Pepper, and never for Tony.

“You can’t think like that,” Pepper said.

“It’s hard not to,” Tony mumbled.

“Hey,” Pepper rubbed Tony’s shoulder. “You were the one to help him fall asleep. He feels so safe in your arms. You can’t be too hard on yourself; it’s only been a week.”

“It shouldn’t be this hard.”

“I think you’re making it out to be harder than it actually has to be.”

“Hmm,” Tony mumbled, but he did not agree. He only spent a few hours with Peter during the week, mainly in the evening. He barely saw Peter during the day, only the two times he showed up in his lab and the two times he showed up at one of his meetings with his crew. Tony wished he could spend more time with him. But that was what next week was for.

They sat in silence, listening to Peter’s light breathing. When the elevator door dinged, the couple looked up, wondering who would show up in the penthouse on a Sunday.

Tony wasn’t fully surprised to see all the Avengers standing in the elevator.

“Security breach,” Tony quipped.

They poured out, and Tony stood in front of Pepper and Peter to effectively block Peter from their view.

“Relax Tony, they all know about Peter,” Nat said.

“What if I didn’t want them to know about Peter?” Tony questioned, the anger flaring in his voice.

“We would never do anything to hurt your son,” Steve promised.

“Yeah man, we’re on your side. And besides, what kind of sick fuck would go after a little kid?” Clint asked.

“Guys that’s not why we are here,” Rhodey interrupted. “Tony we gotta go. Some of Hammer’s remaining men are trying to take back territory in Queens right now.”

“Seems like an easy fight. Hammer’s men are all a bunch of idiots.” Tony commented.

“It will be simple, so suit up metal man,” Thor commented.

“Meet at the Quintjet in 5. Bruce your flying.” Steve proposed. The Avenger’s nodded. Bruce looked flabbergasted at the mention of him flying. But they all and followed Steve back to the elevator.

“Aye-aye Captain.” Clint joked and jumped into the elevator with the rest of the team.

As the doors closed, Tony turned back to Pepper who was watching him.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Tony –” Pepper started but was cut off by Tony leaning down and kissing her deeply on the lips. She was startled at first, but she returned it.

“I’ll be safe, all that jazz. It’s a good thing, we’ll get rid of more guys like Hammer who hurt random men who take care of my son.”

“Ben was not random and you know it.” Pepper complained, but Tony ignored it. Instead, he knelt down in front of Pepper’s feet and planted a kiss on the top of Peter’s head. Peter didn’t even stir.

“Interesting that is what you focus on,” Tony commented.

“Hmmm,” Pepper responded, clearly annoyed with his comment. 

How dare Tony assumed Ben wasn’t important? Just another reason she couldn’t find it in herself to forgive Tony. All she saw was that Tony always made everything about him. He put himself first. Whereas Pepper, she put Peter first. Always. Pepper truly believed that Tony would put his own desires before Peter, no matter what. 

“I’ll see you both later. Love you.” Tony said, standing up.

“Don’t do anything stupid.” Pepper rolled her eyes, happy to have some alone time with her son.

“I never do,” Tony admitted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Part 1, the Avengers will consist of:  
> Tony, Rhodey, Nat, Steve, Clint, Thor, and Bruce.
> 
> Part 2 I will probably add newer Avengers. So if you want to see Sam, Bucky, Scott, etc, let me know which heroes you want to see in part 2 and I will add!


	10. Of Legos and Legislators

“Tones are you insane?” Rhodey asked with skepticism and anger.

“No, I’m a genius remember?” Tony said, rolling his eyes.

“That plan is anything but genius,” Rhodey argued. After Tony revealed his plan to take Peter to Malibu on Friday, he came to ask Rhodey to fly them out late Friday night.

“I thought you would be supportive.”

“That is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had. No way it will work.”

“Yes it will.”

“Pepper is going to kill you. Then she’s going to kill me.”

“She will not.”

“Have you met your wife?”

“Okay fine she might get a little mad,” Tony admitted. “But nowhere near as mad as I was when she left.”

“Oh my god, you are an idiot.” Rhodey rolled his eyes.

“Well, what else am I supposed to do? Pepper can’t forgive me! She doesn’t trust me, and she definitely doesn’t fully trust me around Peter.”

“Then you gotta show her that she can trust you. That you would do anything for her or Peter.”

“I would!”

“She needs to see that. Taking Peter on a ‘vacation’ will just piss her off.”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Tony asked.

Rhodey shook his head. There was no way he could tell his friend no despite how idiotic the plan was. Maybe he could help Tony improve the plan so that it wasn’t so idiotic. So that it would actually work and Pepper would forgive him. But how?

“Yea I didn’t think so. So you’ll fly us to Malibu?” Tony asked.

“Fine. But I take no responsibility.”

Tony grinned. 

“You’re the best Rhodey.” 

“Yea, yea, whatever man. Let’s go see what Cap is up to, I heard he came up with some insane workout regimen.”

\--

Pepper sat in the living room of the penthouse with Peter and Happy sitting on the floor. Peter was happily playing with his new Legos. Pepper had scolded Happy for buying so many. She again had to reprimand Happy when he had bought Peter even more sets, specifically, much more advanced Lego sets after Peter finished all 10 of the Lego Duplo’s sets that Happy originally bought. Some of the new sets said 12+. Peter could choke on the pieces, so Happy promised her that he would watch him closely whenever they pulled out the Legos.

“So I put this piece with this one?” Happy asked Peter.

“No no no no no!!!” Peter grabbed the piece out of Happy’s hand. Peter instead handed Happy the instructions manual and pointed to the page they were on. “See?”

“I see, but I don’t get it.” Happy complained.

“Did it!” Peter exclaimed putting the correct pieces together. 

Peter loved building things, so Pepper understood why he loved Legos. Even if the toy was technically for older kids, clearly Peter was ahead. She supposed he got his brains from his father, but she wouldn’t want to admit it. That confession would go to Tony’s head anyway.

Peter continued to follow the instructions to put together the Disney Castle. Happy on the other hand started to put random pieces together, much to Peter’s annoyance.

“No dats wong!” Peter scolded.

“My bad,” Happy apologized, but Peter looked at him like he didn’t fully believe Happy. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’ do dat.” Peter lectured.

“Sure kid,” Happy said rolling his eyes. 

Before Peter could scold him again, the elevator dinged. Pepper and Happy both looked up, expecting to see Tony, but it was a man neither had met before.

Both Happy and Pepper exchanged a confused glance, unsure of who the stranger was and why he had access to their floor. 

“Buce!!!!!!” Peter jumped up and ran to his favorite friend. Peter ran into his newest friend and hugged his legs.

“Hey Peter,” Bruce greeted and patted his shoulders.

“Who are you?” Happy asserted, as he stood up and tried to look menacing and protective.

“Oh hi, I’m Dr. Bruce Banner, I’m looking for Tony, Rhodey said he might be up here,” Bruce explained nervously as Peter continued to hug his legs.

“Why do you want Tony?” Happy demanded.

“Oh um, Avengers stuff,” Bruce explained, not really wanting to get into it. He just had some suit upgrades to show Tony but he didn’t know where he was.

Peter pulled on Bruce’s pant leg to get his attention. Bruce looked down to see big brown eyes staring up at him. Peter lifted his arms up, demanding to be picked up.

“Ummmm…..” Bruce wasn’t sure if he should pick up the kid. The man in front of Bruce was staring him down. This man looked like he would cut Bruce's head off if he touched the kid. The woman on the couch was staring too, but it was less ferocious. But she was still watching with an apprehensive and protective look.

“Pweaseeeeeee,” Peter begged.

“It’s fine, Happy,” Pepper nodded for Bruce to pick up Peter as she stood and walked over to join Happy and Bruce. 

So Bruce did, much to Peter’s delight. Peter squealed and hugged Bruce’s neck then buried his face in Bruce’s shoulder.

“I’m Pepper, Peter’s mom,” Pepper explained, extending her hand.

With his free hand, Bruce took her handshake.

“I’m Bruce, I work with Tony on the Avengers Initiative.”

“Really? You don’t fit what I pictured when Tony explained it,” Happy commented.

“Well, I’m definitely no Steve or Thor. But I uh had to join, they needed my brain I guess.”

“So you didn’t want to join?” Pepper asked.

“I didn’t ask to be here,” Bruce admitted quietly and looked down at Peter. 

_Pepper knew the feeling all too well._

“Sorry about that.” Pepper felt the need to apologize.

“Not your fault.” Bruce didn’t necessarily want to talk about why he was forced, especially since the Hulk isn’t known for being gentle and he was currently holding her precious child. Thinking about being forced into joining made him angry, so on principle, he tried to avoid thinking about it. Whatever he could do to avoid losing control and letting the Hulk take over he would do.

“I gotta ask, how do you know my son?” Pepper asked.

“Oh, he’s snuck into my lab a few times this past week,” Bruce admitted, not thinking it was a good idea to mention how they originally met in a room filled with weapons and armor that could’ve killed Peter.

“He’s been sneaking into my office and Tony’s,” Pepper admitted.

“He likes science, I’ve been working on a few projects and he understands everything I’ve explained to him. He’s a smart kid.”

“Yea he gets it from his father,” Happy explained, and Pepper shot him a glace.

“I appreciate it, Dr. Banner. It’s nice of you to let him in your lab, but you didn’t have to do that. Don’t feel obligated,” Pepper said.

“It’s no problem at all, it’s safe in my lab I swear and it’s fun to have him around. He’s welcomed anytime.”

“Hear that Peter?” Pepper asked. Peter giggled and hid his face in Bruce’s neck.

“Huh, he really likes you.” Happy commented, the surprise evident in his voice.

“Peter, is Bruce your friend?” Pepper asked.

Peter looked up and grinned. “Buce my Fren!”

The adults all chuckled softly.

“Lego!!!!”

“Where do you want to go?” Bruce asked awkwardly.

“No Lego!” Peter explained, pointing to the toys on the ground. 

“Oh are those your Legos?” Bruce asked, but really stated it, since it was clear that no one else in the room was meant for the Legos. So Bruce lowered Peter to the ground, thinking he wanted to go play. 

Peter started to walk towards his Legos, but he turned around to make sure his friend Bruce was coming. When he realized Bruce wasn’t coming, he ran back to Bruce, grabbed his hand, then led him to his Legos. 

They both sat down, and Peter crawled onto Bruce’s lap. Peter started to put together the Legos, happily perched on his friend’s lap. Oblivious to the world.

And they sat like that for a while. Pepper and Happy joined them, but sat on the couch, as they talked to Bruce. They asked about his work and about all his PhDs, and Bruce happily dived into his work while Peter remained completely focused on putting together his castle. 

They were still talking about Bruce’s research in gamma radiation when the elevator doors dinged open. Bruce stiffened, worried that Tony might enter and be pissed about the Hulk being so close to Peter. But it wasn’t Tony.

It was Nat.

“Hey Nat,” Pepper greeted.

“Hey Romanov,” Happy joined.

“Hey Pepper and Peter and Happy. Oh hi Bruce.”

“He-hey Nat,” Bruce said blushing. He felt like a schoolboy all over again, being all nervous around his crush. Nat smiled softly and walk over to stand over Bruce and Peter.

“Bruce, what are you doing up here?” Nat asked softly.

“Oh you know, came looking for Tony,” Bruce admitted and Nat genuinely smiled.

“No clue where he is,” Nat said patting his shoulder.

Her hands lingered on his shoulder, and Bruce felt like the spot she was touching was on fire.

“Eh he’s around here somewhere,” Happy grumbled.

You make a new friend?” Nat asked, her hands still resting on Bruce.

“Yea, Peter and I get along well.”

“We frens.” Peter explained while continuing to connect Legos, not even looking up.

“That so Peter?” Nat asked.

“We play in da lab!” Peter grinned thinking of all the fun he had with Bruce.

“You bring him to the lab?” Nat asked in amazement. No way Tony knew about that. Or wanted to share Peter.

“Yea he shows up from time to time. I show him what I do. It’s harmless and he seems to like it. Right, Peter?”

“I sci’tist!” Peter giggled. All the adults smiled.

“Yup, you are,” Bruce agreed.

“huh I guess two Starks are obsessed with you and your work,” Nat said, moving her hand up to brush Bruce’s hair. 

Bruce’s cheeks turned a dark red.

“Damnit,” Happy said as his phone went off.

“Dam’it,” Peter parroted.

“Don’t say that kid, your father will have my ass,” Happy warned as he stood up and walked away from the group to take the call.

“Assssssss,” Peter parroted again.

“I’m telling Tony that you taught him those words Happy!” Pepper called out to him.

“Please don’t, Pep please,” Happy begged, the fear evident in his face.

“Then watch your language,” Pepper warned and Happy waved as he left.

“Bye-bye Hap-hap!” Peter waved back from his spot in Bruce’s lap. Upon leaving, Peter sighed and leaned back against his friend Bruce. Peter grabbed Bruce’s wrist and started playing with his watch. Bruce let him, and he even put his own hand in Peter’s lap to give him easier access.

“He really has you wrapped around his little finger huh?” Nat observed and twirled a curl on Bruce’s head with her fingers.

“He got me with those Bambi eyes,” Bruce admitted smiling down at the Legos sheepishly, unable to meet Nat's gaze.

“He knows how to use what he has to get what he wants,” Pepper added and Nat joined her on the couch where Happy had just left.

The adults watched as Peter played with the watch on Bruce’s wrist. Peter babbled, saying something none of the adults could understand. 

“Nat, can I talk to you?” Pepper asked, then paused and glanced at Peter and Bruce. “Privately.”

“Sure,” Nat agreed and nodded her head towards the kitchen.

“Oh I can go,” Bruce said, starting to stand up.

“No no noooooo,” Peter wined. “Stay!”

“You can stay Bruce, please,” Pepper told Bruce. “We will be quick.”

“Alright,” Bruce agreed and watched the ladies walk away.

“Peter?” Bruce whispered.

“Wha?” Peter whispered back.

“What do you think of Nat?”

“Da wady?” Peter pointed to where his mom and Nat disappeared too.

“Yea her,” Bruce said.

Peter paused before responding.

“She a ninja,” Peter explained as if it was obvious.

“Oh, okay,” Bruce said. Did Peter really pick up on her hand combat skills?

“What makes you say she’s a ninja?”

“She figh' like pow pow pow!!” Peter explained, making fists and punching the air. “An' she kic' and twow da knife,”

“Huh I guess you did see her throw knives during training,” Bruce commented.

“Bu she nice wady! She gib me cookies!”

“Wow cool,” Bruce agreed. He had a hard time reading her. In fact, Bruce detected a bit of flirting coming from Nat, but he had always had trouble in the past. He was always an awkward nerdy kid. Now he was just an awkward nerdy adult. And Natasha, well she was beautiful. 

He had no chance but to just blush like an idiot thinking about her.

\--

“So what’s up?” Nat asked.

“I need your help,” Pepper explained.

“You know I can’t help you escape right now.”

“I know,” Pepper sighed. “I just, I need to see May.”

“May Parker?” 

“Yes, I need to know she’s okay.”

“You know how risky it’ll be? There’s no easy way for me to sneak you out of the Tower without Tony catching wind.”

“Please, even if it’s just for like 10 minutes. I need to know she’s okay, and I need her to know that I’m okay.” Pepper explained.

“I can track her down and just tell her you’re fine and report back how she is.” Nat offered.

“No, no I need to see her myself. Apologize for what happened to Ben.”

“You know that’s not your fault.”

“It kinda feels like it is.” The guilt had been eating Pepper alive.

“It’s not your fault. I can get a message to her.” 

“No please Nat, please,” Pepper begged. “I- I – I feel so guilty. Please I took everything from her.”

“Then don’t you think it’s not a good idea to see her?”

“Please Nat, she has no one else but me and Peter. Please you owe me.”

“I’ll think about it, but it’ll have to be when Tony’s on a business trip.”

“He told me he has no plans to fly anywhere unless it’s with me and Peter!” Pepper complained.

“What do you expect me to do?” Nat asked, starting to get annoyed.

“Look at it from my perspective! Can you? Her husband is dead because of me! I killed her husband. I did.” Pepper admitted with tears in her eyes.

“You are not a murderer Pepper!” Nat complained.

“Do you even know how it feels to know someone is dead because of you?” Pepper asked.

_Nat could see the blood dripping down all her victim's faces. She could see their wide, scared eyes. She could hear them take their last shaky breaths. She could smell their piss and blood mixing together._

_She remembered everything about the hundreds of her victims. All the people Tony ordered her to kill took their dying breath in front of her. The approval she got from Tony after she reported each mission successful and the power she gained after killing them merciless was intoxicating._

_She knew exactly how it felt to kill. She had no regrets._

“No I have no idea,” Nat said, her voice cold and face expressionless. 

Pepper did not need to know. Ever. Those deaths would go with Nat to her grave. 

“So you’ll help me?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

\--

It was late in the evening on Friday. Peter blinked his heavy eyes open, or at least he tried to. Pepper was towel drying Peter who could barely stand up. It was close to bedtime for him, and she could see that playing with Bruce wiped him out. After she towel-dried his hair and moved down to dry his back and shoulders, Peter laid his head on his mommy.

Peter felt tired. He just wanted to cuddle. Not just stand there cold with a towel. So he wrapped his wet arms around his mommy, trying to show her how cold he was. 

“Col’,” Peter complained.

“Peter you’re all wet, let me dry you.”

Peter wined. Pepper could tell how tired he was, so after deciding he was dry enough, she quickly dressed him in his diaper and pajamas, and lifted him up into her arms.

He immediately clung to her like a koala, wrapping his arms around his mommy’s neck and burying his face in her hair.

She carried him out of the bathroom and looked around the empty apartment. It was quiet without Tony. Part of her wished he would never come back. But the other part of her wanted him to come home earlier. But she knew what he was up to, and she had absolutely no influence over what he did. Tony Stark did whatever he wanted. And he always got what he wanted.

She sighed and walked past the couch into Peter’s room. It was filled with everything Peter could ever want, but it was missing one thing.

May.

Peter had asked about May and Ben a lot this past week. He asked where they were and why he couldn’t go play with his aunt and uncle. She didn’t have the heart to tell him he won’t see her for a while. And she definitely didn’t want Peter to think about Ben and what Peter had seen. If anything, she wanted her son to forget the murder he witnessed. All she wanted to do was protect her baby from this world. 

And she failed.

Pepper sat down on the rocking chair in Peter’s room. She gently rocked him back and forth, cradling his head against her shoulder. She could feel his soft breaths on her neck, comforting her and reminding her how much her little boy needed her. He needed her to be strong, now more than ever.

“Mommy,” Peter wined.

“Yes, honey?” Pepper whispered into her little boy’s hair.

“Tell me a stowy,” Peter asked, “A I’nman one.”

“You know more Ironman stories than I do Pete.”

“Noo,” Peter complained, rubbing his face against Pepper’s shirt, “I wan da secret one.”

“The secret story? What?” Pepper asked confused.

“How you luv I’nman,” Peter explained.

“I-,” Pepper had no words. “I haven’t said I love him in front of you.”

Peter pointed to her eyes. “Buce says da eyes tell da stowy.”

Pepper stared into her little boy’s eyes. Peter saw what she had been denying the entire week. 

Thinking of Tony, her blood boiled. Tony pulled her into his orbit of evil. He forced her to come back to a life she so desperately wanted to escape in order to protect Peter. And she hated Tony for how selfish he was. Tony was the sun. He pulled her in with his warmth, but he burned those that got too close.

But she knew. She knew deep down, a part of her would always love Tony. No matter what. She knew her heart forever and always would gravitate towards her sun. 

She was trying as hard as possible to suppress her feelings. To avoid the urge to love him again. His sunshine had burned a hole into her heart, and no matter how hard she tried, he would forever have a hold of her heart. She couldn't help it. How she felt lonely and dark the penthouse when he wasn’t there. How relief flooded her at the park and washed away her fear when he arrived. How even in her sleep, gravity seemed to pull her towards him as she leaned into his touch and let his strong arms pull her close. But she kept trying as hard as possible to hide it.

She thought her love for Tony was a well-kept secret, kept even from herself. It wasn’t.

“Mommy,” Peter wined, tears forming in his eyes.

“Shhh, baby it’s okay,” Pepper cooed and rocked him.

“You luv I’nman,” Peter whispered.

“I- I – I,” Pepper stuttered, unsure of what to tell her son.

“Mommy,” Peter whispered.

“I love you Peter. You’re my son. And Tony, err, Ironman, well, he’ll always have a place in my heart.” Pepper said, never taking her eyes off of her baby.

“I luv you mommy,” Peter agreed and snuggled closer to his mommy. Pepper hugged him closer and closed her eyes.

Pepper continued to rock her baby, gently resting her cheek on her son’s head. She rocked him until she was sure he was asleep.

Pepper took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. Peter was sound asleep. As she went to stand, she looked towards the door and saw Tony standing there. He was watching intently, still fully dressed in his suit.

“How long have you been standing here?” Pepper whispered.

“Long enough,” Tony admitted. 

“You look tired,” Pepper noticed. The bags under his eyes had bags. The light in his eyes was long gone. He looked like he was ready to collapse from the long week. Pepper knew he had been busy with Avengers stuff, he usually came home well after she was already asleep and was gone before she woke up.

Tony just nodded.

Pepper lowered Peter into his crib and gently tucked him in. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. She stood back up and walked over to her husband. 

Pepper took Tony’s hands in hers. She held them lightly and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. He pulled her in closer so that their faces were centimeters apart.

“I love you Pep,” Tony whispered, his breath tickling her nose.

“Common let’s go to bed,” Pepper ignored the part of her that wanted to say it back. She ignored the urge to kiss him. She ignored how much she hated yet also loved herself for not being able to forgive Tony. 

Pepper pulled at his hands gently guiding him out of Peter’s room. Tony followed, but he was stuck in a daze. He was confused. Pepper could tell their son that she still had a place for Tony in her heart but couldn’t admit it to his face?

It destroyed Tony. It extinguished his flame, smothering his soul with emptiness and pain. 

When he had heard Pepper confess to Peter how she felt, it made him want to cancel his plans for tonight. But he couldn’t. Especially after this stab to his heart, he couldn’t cancel. She had a lesson to learn, and after hearing her confess her love to Peter and not to him, he knew she needed to learn the lesson. To never leave him. To openly love him.

She let go of his hand when they entered their bedroom. She watched him stand there expressionless and unmoving. She started to untie his tie. He watched her, his eyes never leaving her face. She looked up to see him watching her and she blinked. 

“Tony?”

“I’m going on a business trip tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll be leaving early before you wake up.”

“Oh, um okay,” Pepper said, trying to suppress her anger. Why did she feel angry about him leaving? She had been pushing him away since he had found her. And with him gone, she could see May. Maybe she would even be able to take Peter.

She was getting what she wanted, so why was she so disappointed?

\--

Tony hadn’t fallen asleep. He had gotten into bed and waited until Pepper fell asleep. Tony slipped out of bed as quietly as possible. At the doorway, he glanced back to see his wife’s form under the sheets. He hoped more than anything this would work. He hoped that this would fix everything. He hoped that the next time he saw her, they could love each other the way they used to. He had no other ideas on how to fix his marriage, but he would do what he had to. And his heart told him that this was the only way.

Tony quietly crept into Peter’s room. He gently pulled his son out of the crib, into his arms, and tucked him into his chest. Peter didn’t even stir. 

Tony brought him down to the garage and was met by a grumpy Happy.

“You’re late. And you seriously had to fly now?” Happy grumbled.

“That’s funny, I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there.”

“Hmmm, you can put him in his seat then,” Happy said, motioning to Peter.

“I can and I will,” Tony agreed and slipped Peter effortlessly into his car seat.  
Tony climbed in next to his son, and Happy took off.

“So Rhodey’s flying you out?” Happy asked as he turned out of the Tower garage.

“Yup.”

“Poor bastard.”

“What else is a consigliere for?”

“You know Pepper is going to kill every single one of us.”

“She’ll learn.”

“Alright boss,” Happy agreed. Happy was there to help Tony. Always. And there was no reason to argue with the boss. Ever. Happy knew when it came to Pepper or Peter, Tony had a short temper and was not about to listen to anyone. Everyone who knew about the plan provided their undying support, no matter their true opinion. 

When they arrived at the hanger, Happy waved them goodbye. When Tony stepped onto his plane, he felt excited. Some time with his son was all he needed. Maybe he could even get Peter to finally call him dad. He adjusted Peter into his booster seat for the plane. The plane doors had already shut, and the new flight attendant had already put his suitcases into the back of the plane. Once he was satisfied with Peter’s seat, Tony headed up to the cockpit to greet his consigliere. 

“Hey Platypus, thanks again for your help with this.”

“Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to be helping you Stark.” An unfamiliar voice said.

“Who the hell are you and where the fuck is Rhodey?” Tony demanded, pulling out his gun.

“I’d put that away Stark, or I’ll have our flight attendant blow that little boy’s brains out.” He gestured for Tony to look back, only to see a woman point a gun to his sleeping son’s head. She didn’t even seem fazed that she was pointing a gun at a child, her face was blank and her hand was unmoving.

“Don’t,” Tony growled. His hands were shaking, but Tony lowered his gun.

“That’s a good boy Stark. Go sit down, we are preparing for takeoff.”

“No,” Tony seethed, his heart beating rapidly. He could hear each heartbeat in his ear, warning him of his impending doom. “Who are you and where is Rhodey?”

“My name is Stern, and I swear to god I’ll have that boy killed. Now, go. Sit. Down.”

“Wait, Senator Stern?” Tony asked and when Stern smiled, Tony knew he was correct.

“Sit. We have a destination to reach.” Stern warned, and glanced at the flight attendant. Their silent conversation went unnoticed by Tony.

“Who sent you?” Tony demanded, his voice filled with rage, shock, and disgust. 

Stern ignored his question and grinned.

“Afghanistan is lovely this time of year.” Stern wickedly laughed.

Noiselessly, the flight attendant crept up behind Tony and pricked Tony’s neck. Tony was unconscious before he plummeted to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooo plot twist to Tony's plan
> 
> Who do you think is behind the kidnapping? 
> 
> Of note, I am 100% not following the MCU timeline by any means. This is just me and my crazy ideas.
> 
> Angst to come!!


	11. Hold Back the Tide

Pepper dreamed of Tony. She dreamed of the night they first danced together. In her dream, she saw his eyes sparkle when he swayed with her, and felt his warm hand resting on her back. She dreamed of his warmth and his smile. In her dream, she was so happy with him.

When she woke, she was so cold. With her eyes still closed, she reached out for him, looking for his warmth. Her fingers grasped the cool sheets. She had forgotten that he would be gone before she woke up. She sighed and pulled herself out of bed.

She sleepily tiptoed into Peter’s room to check that he was awake. She rubbed her eyes, blinked, and looked down into the crib.

Empty.

There was nothing but the rumpled blankets in the bed. No Peter. The fear jolted her awake, and she frantically began searching the apartment.

“Peter?” She called, looking for him in the living room. Maybe he had snuck out of his crib to play? But he was nowhere to be found.

She checked the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen, and nothing.

“Friday?” Pepper asked with terror. Why didn’t she think of that before? She could feel the panic attack coming.

“Yes, Mrs. Stark?”

“Where’s Peter? Where’s my baby?” Pepper’s voice trembled.

“He left last night with his father for Malibu,” Friday confirmed her worst fears.

“HE WHAT?!” She screamed, dropping to the ground. She clutched her heart. She could feel her heart beating so hard that it hurt. The ringing in her ears burst like a gun and drowned out her ability to think clearly.

_Peter. Peter. Peter. Peter where are you?_

How could Tony? What the fuck was he thinking? Oh, she was going to kill Tony.

“Call him. NOW.” Pepper demanded.

“I am afraid I am unable to connect with him,” Friday admitted. 

“Friday get him back here right now. Turn his plane around, bring him back.”

“I am unable to connect with Mr. Stark,” Friday repeated.

Pepper full-on panicked. Her son. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. She felt like there was no air left in the world, that the apartment was on fire, that she was choking on her own lungs. She tried to think clearly. But she couldn’t. Nothing else mattered now that Peter wasn’t with her. 

The fear of being separated by her son had scared her in the past. Now it consumed her.

“Mrs. Stark, it appears you are having a panic attack. I am requesting assistance from Dr. Banner,” Friday spoke calmly and paused. “Dr. Banner is on his way, as is Happy Hogan.”

When Bruce and Happy arrived, they found Pepper curled up on the floor in a ball. She was shaking uncontrollably, and tears were falling down her cheek and pooling on the cold hardwood around her.

“Pepper? Hey Pepper it’s me, Dr. Banner? It’s me, Bruce. What happened?”

“He took my baby,” Pepper shakily whispered.

Happy let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He knew her reaction would be bad. He just didn’t know it would be this bad.

“Pepper why don’t you sit up?” Happy asked.

“Where’s Peter? Where’s my baby?” Pepper cried softly, still not moving.

“He’s fine. He’s with Tony.” Happy timidly admitted. Why Tony didn’t decide to leave a note or something, anything, was beyond Happy’s comprehension.

Pepper looked up. Her blue eyes were shining in the dim light of the living room. But Happy could see not only the tears, but he could see the overwhelming anger bubbling up.

“You knew,” Pepper said coldly. 

She paused and studied Happy's conflicted face.

“You knew.” She repeated.

She lunged at Happy.

“YOU KNEW AND YOU LET HIM TAKE MY SON FROM ME!” She shrieked and clawed at Happy. Bruce jumped back in fear, not knowing how to handle it.

“Friday get the team up here ASAP,” Happy begged and tried to block Pepper’s erratic swats.

“HOW COULD YOU HAPPY?” Pepper demanded.

“I had no choice-” Happy started.

“NO YOU LET THIS HAPPEN,” Pepper screamed, hitting Happy against the face.

When the elevator dinged, Nat, Steve, Clint, and Thor rushed out, wondering what the emergency that Friday had alerted them about. When they saw Happy being attacked by a woman, they exchanged confused glances.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, rushing forward to get in between the woman and Happy.

“Pepper why are you attacking Happy?” Nat asked, pulling Pepper aside.

“He took Peter,” Pepper cried.

“What?” Thor asked, thinking of the little boy they met in the training room. Was this the boy's mother?

“He took Peter and didn’t tell me,” Pepper sobbed and turned to Happy. 

“And you knew about it!” Pepper screamed and thrashed out towards Happy, but was held back by Nat.

“Happy is this true?” Nat asked.

“He made me promise not to tell,” Happy admitted, and Pepper wiggled in Nat’s grasp, the anger exploding from within all over again.

“Where did they go? Maybe you can fly out to meet them,” Steve suggested as the elevator dinged for the second time.

“Malibu,” Happy stated, “Rhodey is flying them out.”

“Actually,” A voice interrupted, and everyone turned to see Rhodey in the elevator. “I was compromised.”

Rhodey stood just outside the elevator but was barely able to stand upright. He clutched his chest as if he would fall apart if he didn’t hold on. He had two black eyes and a welt on his forehead. The cuts all over his arms and face were still bleeding.

Pepper stared at Rhodey. Her mind and body were unmoving. When it finally clicked what it meant that Rhodey wasn’t flying the plane, her mind went into overdrive. Worst case scenarios started playing over and over again. Pepper started to tremble uncontrollably.

“Shit what happened?” Clint asked.

“Hey language, Bruce get your medical equipment,” Steve commanded and Bruce nodded.

“Looks like he needs stitches, he might even need surgery,” Bruce said and motioned to the elevator, “let’s go down to Medbay.”

“Who did this atrocity to you?” Thor asked.

Rhodey glared at Thor, the pain and anger flared in his eyes.

“Loki,” Rhodey mumbled. 

_The room was so silent. No one could talk or even breathe. It was like the whole world had stopped spinning for a moment._

“Who the hell is Loki?” Pepper asked.

“Let’s just say he’s interested in taking Tony down,” Rhodey explained. 

_The whole world did stop spinning. Permenantly._

“We need to contact Stark, can you call his plane?” Steve asked.

“I’m trying right now,” Happy said, his phone pressed to his ear. Pepper rushed over to Happy, clutching to the hope that she could catch some of the conversation.

“Do you think he’ll kill Tony?” Steve asked, looking at Thor expectantly. Pepper covered her mouth and held back a sob.

“No, Tony is more valuable alive to Loki, no one will accept Loki taking over Stark territory if he kills a child.” Rhodey explained miserably, the pain starting to become even more unbearable.

"What about Peter?" Pepper asked, but no one answered.

“No answer,” Happy said.

“Well, try again!!” Pepper screamed, tears forming in her eyes.

“No answer,” Happy cringed as it went to voicemail again.

“TRY AGAIN!” Pepper screeched, then crumbled to the floor in tears. 

“We need to find them,” Clint commented to Steve. 

Steve looked at Pepper crying on the ground. Even though he just met her, he sympathized with her. He knew how it felt to lose the people you love. He lost the love of his life, Peggy. And he lost his best friend, Bucky. He didn’t want Pepper to have to go through that.

“Clint, Nat, Thor, let’s go find Loki. Bruce, take Rhodey to Medbay, fix him up. Happy, keep trying to call and locate the plane.” Steve ordered pushing his team out of the penthouse.

Bruce helped Rhodey get back in the elevator by slinging Rhodey’s arm around himself so that Bruce carried the grunt of Rhodey’s weight. Steve, Nat, Clint, and Thor followed after them, immediately beginning to discuss their plan. Happy followed behind them, still on the phone trying to reach the plane.

When the elevator doors closed, Pepper was utterly and completely alone.  
\--

Tony groaned. Why did his head hurt so much? He kept his eyes closed, hoping that he could just keep sleeping.

But then everything came back to him. The flight, Senator Stern, the gun pointed at Peter, getting knocked out.

His eyes snapped open only to reveal utter darkness. He felt around, searching for the one thing that mattered most. Peter. All he felt was the scratchy linens he was laying on.

“Peter?” Tony’s concerned voice echoed into the darkness, his words floating farther and farther away.

“Peter!” Tony called out, frantically sitting up. Light burst out of nowhere, and Tony shielded his eyes. The dizziness overcame him, but he pushed it away as he held onto the side of the small bed frame with one hand and covered his eyes with the other.

“Good, you are awake,” A gruff voice with a thick accent said. It was close to Tony, he could feel the presence of this person ever so close to him.

Tony cautiously opened his eyes, to see a group of five men standing in front of him. They wore camouflage and scarves to cover their hair and face. They held their machine guns firmly, with a few of them pointing directly at Tony’s head. Tony scanned the rest of the room and saw metal scraps, a workbench, tools, and more guns. But no Peter. He frantically scanned the room looking for his boy, but all he saw was another man in the room. A bald, skinny man, who just sat in the corner watching. 

“Where is he?” Tony asked.

One of the terrorists smacked Tony across the face with the rifle.

“We do the talking!” The terrorist yelled.

“Where is the kid?” Tony demanded not wanting to reveal the kid was actually his kid. If Peter was still alive, Tony didn’t want to give them any more reasons to hurt Peter. 

They hit Tony again, even harder this time. Tony could feel the blood running down his face.

“Shut up and start building! You build us Ironman suit!” The terrorist said, waving his gun towards the other side of the room. When Tony didn’t move, two terrorists grabbed him by the arms and threw him across the room. Tony skidded across the ground, he could feel the burn throbbing from where his hands scraped across the cold hard floor.

“I’m not doing anything until you bring the boy here,” Tony muttered from the ground. He couldn’t, he wouldn’t go on without Peter. Tony reasoned that if Peter was gone, there was no point in doing anything these assholes wanted.

The men whispered to one another in a language that Tony could not understand. One nodded.

“Fine,” the man who nodded agreed, kicking Tony in the stomach as he walked past, and promptly went to the metal door. When he left, he slammed the door shut, and Tony could hear the metal locks click into place. 

“You build suit or we kill boy,” another terrorist said.

Tony gulped. These weren’t the kind of people who should have the kind of power Ironman brought. But he would do anything to protect Peter. Anything. Even if that means going against what little moral compass Tony had.

“Don’t hurt him,” Tony demanded, trying not to show weakness in his distraught voice.

“We won’t if you give us suit. Give us suit and we will free you.” One of the terrorists explained.

The metal door clicked again, and the terrorist came in holding Peter under his armpits. The terrorist had Peter outstretched as far away from himself as possible in an attempt to prevent the boy from kicking him. Peter kicked his little feet as hard and as fast as he could, demanding to be put down. When Peter saw Tony, his kicks and cries only got more frantic.

The terrorist set Peter down and Peter promptly ran into Tony’s open arms. Tony grabbed his shaking son’s body and pulled him into his chest. He held him tightly, unwilling to let go. Tony’s fingers automatically went to push Peter’s face into his chest to keep Peter from seeing the blood on his face. His hand rested gently in Peter’s hair, soothingly brushing his curls back.

“Finish suit Stark, or else,” one of the terrorists said. Tony bit his tongue to prevent himself from saying a snarky comment about how weak of a threat that was and instead distracted himself by using his free hand to wipe the blood from his face. The group of men gathered and exited the room by slamming the metal door shut. When Tony heard the click, he pulled Peter back to make sure he was okay.

Physically, Peter was completely unharmed. If Peter wasn’t currently crying in a cave, Tony would have no idea just looking at him that Peter had just been kidnapped and separated from his family.

“Did they hurt you?” Tony asked, brushing the curls out of Peter’s eyes and scanning the small boy’s body. 

Peter shook his head. No. Peter remembered waking up in a cold dark room. Nothing like the bedroom mommy had tucked him into last night. And a scary man wearing a red scarf was there with a big scary gun. But the scary man didn’t touch him. The man just stared at Peter, watching him cry for his mommy and Ironman.

“it’s okay baby, we will get out of here,” Tony promised and leaned in to kiss his forehead. They had to.

“Afraid it won’t be that easy.” The man who had been sitting in the corner watching spoke up. Tony instinctively pulled Peter closer to him and shielded Peter from the man, blocking the stranger’s view of Peter.

“And you are?”

“Doctor Ho Yinsen, Believe me, I’m not friends with those guys.”

“Ah, I finally met a man called ‘Ho’,” Tony joked, but he made no effort to smile. Ho simply nodded.

“Where are we?” Tony asked, breaking the silence.

“Afghanistan. I’m sure they are looking for you Stark. But they will never find you in these mountains.” 

“Who are those guys?” Tony asked.

“The Ten Rings, they’re terrorists, awful people, worse than you Stark,” Ho explained.

“You know who I am?” Tony asked.

“Of course I do. Famous mobster. Ironman. Genius billionaire. Everyone knows all about you and the most powerful mob in the world. You’ve only gotten more powerful and richer in money and blood with Ironman, right?”

“I don’t kill innocent people or kidnap children,” Tony stated.

“No you don’t, clearly that child willingly came with you,” Ho deadpanned.

“He’s my son,” Tony growled and hugged Peter to his chest. Peter hugged him back. Peter’s little fists held Tony’s shirt tightly in fear that if he let go of his hero, he would be taken away from Ironman.

“Haven’t heard that one on the news. Surprising you kept him a secret for so long when you’re constantly the headline of the news.”

“I’d like to keep it that way,” Tony stated. The terrorists might not have put two and two together. Yet. The second they did he was royally screwed.

“The Ten Rings, they say they have everything you need to build an Ironman suit. They want you to make the list of materials. They say for you to start working immediately, and when you’re done, he will set you free.” Ho explained.

“No, they won’t.”

“No, they won’t.”

They paused and stared at each other. 

“You have a choice to make Stark,” Ho broke the silence.

“Is it blasting the crap out of those assholes?”

“Would you really risk having the boy get shot in the crossfire?” Ho asked, staring at the father and son.

Tony shook his head. He would never want to put Peter at risk.

“If you can build a suit to do hundreds of tasks, you can build a pod to fly to predetermined coordinates,” Ho explained.

“That would be possible, yes,” Tony agreed.

“Wonderful, so we will send the boy in a pod to the US,” Ho explained.

“What no! Are you out of your mind old man?”

“I told you, you must make a choice. You can make the suit for Ten Rings and hope they will release us. You can take your suit and kill the Ten Rings. The Ten Rings will try to overpower you, but realistically, this is your best option for you to survive. The Ten Rings expect you to try that and will prepare for such, and they won't care who dies in the crossfire. Or you can build pod that will safely deliver the boy home. We can include our GPS coordinates and hope your friends can rescue us in time.” 

“if I blast our way out of here there’s no way the Ten Rings can beat me.”

“But they have leverage over you,” Ho pointed to Peter.

“I can build space for him in the suit,” Tony suggested.

“You do not have enough material. You try and stretch it and the metal will be too thin…” Ho paused but then continued.

“And their explosions will rip through your suit like it was made of paper.”

The two men stared at each other with calculating looks, willing the other to talk.

“What if this pod malfunctions? What if Peter gets lost in the pod and no one finds him? He could die!” Tony nervously rambled.

“Would you, the great, brilliant, Tony Stark, let that happen?” Ho asked.

Tony’s eyes narrowed.

“Never,” Tony said unwaveringly. 

“I thought so.”

\--

It had been one whole week. One whole week since Tony and Peter went missing. Pepper couldn’t even get out of bed. She would wake up in the morning, only wake up and remember she was living her worst nightmare. Again and again. 

Each day that passed got harder and harder. There was no word on where they were. No one had found any leads and it was killing Pepper. All she wanted to do was hug her little boy and never let him go. But she couldn’t, and the fear that she never would see him again consumed her.

She was also ready to strangle Tony. She thought she was mad about him dragging her back into his world? Nothing compared to her seething anger she felt towards Tony for doing this to her. How could he pretend that being in Peter’s life was safer for them? It made her shake with rage.

“Pepper?” a soft voice called out from outside her bedroom door in the penthouse. Pepper didn’t have the will to respond. Instead, she just rolled over and stared at the wall. 

“Pepper can I come in?” The voice asked again. Pepper didn’t even register the voice, she continued to stare at the wall and wondered what her baby was doing right now. God, she hoped he was still alive. 

The door creaked open. While the rest of the team was looking for Tony 24/7, Nat had not only been looking for Tony, but she had been trying to help console Pepper. To no such avail so far. 

But she had one final card to play.

“Pepper?” Nat called out and saw Pepper still lying in bed. “I have someone here to see you.”

“Unless it’s Peter then go away.”

“Mary – errr, I mean Pepper?” A new voice said.

Pepper knew that voice. She knew that voice so well. For two years, she heard that voice every day.

“May,” Pepper said breathlessly. Pepper sat up in bed and looked over to her closest friend from the past two years. Pepper’s eyes met May, and she burst into tears.

“Ohhhhhh Ma-Pepper,” May said rushing forward to engulf her lost friend into a hug.

“May,” Pepper sobbed into May’s hair. 

“I’m here, I’m here,” May rocked Pepper, holding her as she cried.

“May, he took my baby,” Pepper chocked out.

“I know,” May sighed, holding back the tears. “Nat told me what happened. I’m – I’m so so sorry Pepper.”

“What if they never find him?” Pepper cried.

“Don’t think like that,” May sniffed.

Then suddenly, the damns broke. May couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Everything that had happened to her in the past few weeks had been fucking awful. When she came home from her shift at the hospital two weeks ago, no one was there. No Ben, no Mary, no Peter. She looked everywhere. She tried to call Ben. She tried to call Mary. She called neighbors and even the nearby deli. Nothing. It wasn’t until she asked the doorman. He looked at her with horror and told her what happened. Only then did she find out the truth. That Ben was murdered. Peter and Mary were taken by the Stark mob. She had lost everything and everyone who mattered in life. She couldn’t even breathe. The love of her life was dead, and her best friend and nephew were gone. 

When Nat showed up at her place this morning and told her who Mary and Peter really were, May was relieved to know the mob didn’t kill her best friend and nephew. When Nat told her what had happened to Peter, she lost it. It was bittersweet information. Her friend was alive, but Peter was kidnapped. And there was no trace.

“May,” Pepper cried, “I’m so so so sorry.”

“What are you sorry about?” May asked.

“Ben,” Pepper whispered.

May took a shaky breath.

“That is NOT your fault,” May grabbed Pepper’s shoulders and shook her lightly. “You hear me? You better not be blaming yourself for what happened.”

“But it is my fault,” Pepper sobbed.

“No. It. Isn’t. You did not pull the trigger, and you didn’t invite those guys over.”

“But they came looking for me and Peter, and Ben paid the price,” Pepper explained somberly.

“You and Peter? You both made me and Ben so happy. You were the best thing that ever happened to us. Seriously, I know if Ben could tell you himself, he would tell you that none of this is your fault.”

Pepper looked up at her friend. While her eyes were filled with tears, Nat recognized something else behind those watery eyes.

Hope.

“I’ve missed you so much May.”

“I’ve missed you too, Mary. Er wait should I be calling you Pepper? That is your real name, right?”

“Sorry about having to do that.”

“If you apologize one more time I will scream. You had to do what you had to do.”

“How are you so okay with everything? Ben is dead and Peter is missing and it’s all –“

“I swear Pepper if you say it is your fault again…”

“I know, I’m sor-“

“Pepper!!” May chastised, lightly hitting Pepper’s arm. For the first time since Peter was taken, Pepper laughed. It made May smile.

“Pepper, I’m okay because you’re okay. And knowing you, you’ll whip these mobsters into shape and find your son. If anyone can find him, I know it’s you.” May stated.

Pepper pulled her friend into a hug, seeking the comfort only May seemed to ever be able to provide.

“Thank you,” Pepper whispered as she hugged May tighter.

“Common, let’s go eat something,” May held out a hand to Pepper, and she took it. As they walked out of the bedroom, May added, “besides, you’re the boss's wife, today, you are going to boss these thugs around and get your son.”

\--

Tony realized within a few hours of being in that cave, that he had to do something to distract Peter from all of this. To distract him, but to also keep him safe. 

“Peter?” Tony called out to his son, who was jumping on the small bed that Tony had woken up on the first day weeks ago. Tony had lost count of the days after 22. His son had been in this cave longer than he had even been home. It made Tony sick.

“I’nman!” Peter giggled out and jumped down. 

“Remind me of the game rules,” Tony asked as he continued to tighten a screw on the suit. They had made some progress on the replica suit that would never work and the pod to send Peter home, but it would be months before they finished.

“No peakin’ wen da sca’f guys come!” Peter exclaimed.

“Yup, you get 5 points for keeping your eyes closed and hiding under the bed while they are here. And another 5 for waiting to come out until I say so. Oh, and you get another 5 points for helping me tinker.”

“An go to bed!” Peter smiled triumphantly. For a kid who was currently being held hostage by terrorists, Peter was none the wiser. Tony knew he had himself to thank for that. By distracting Peter with this game, Peter never realized what was actually going on.

“Another 5 points goes to you Pete! How are you winning by so much?” Tony asked as he tickled his giggling son.

So far Peter was winning at the game. Every time the terrorist came into the room, he hid well, and didn’t make a peep. Thank god. Tony did not want his son to see the terrorists beat him and Ho until they couldn’t taste and see anything but blood. He didn’t want Peter to see the waterboarding. But Tony knew Peter heard the screams. Fuck, he wished he could send Peter home right now, he ached to get his son out of the danger.

“Finis’?” Peter asked after his giggling died down.

“Sorry Peter,” Tony sighed, “It’s going to take a while.”

It had been so long and yet the progress they had made was so slow. But Tony could not risk rushing it. One wrong calculation, one wrong screw, could jeopardize Peter’s safe return. And Tony and Ho’s safe rescue. 

The design Tony created included coordinates on where to go, but also where the pod came from. Tony knew that the second Peter got home, the Avengers, mainly Bruce, would find the coordinates and would come to save them. By Tony’s calculation, they could safely deliver Peter home in the pod in 5 hours. It would take another 5 for the Quintjet to come to rescue them. Tony timed the interval between the Ten Ring's visits as every 10 to 12 hours. It had to be enough. It had to.

“I wan’ mommy,” Peter pouted as he flopped back onto the bed. 

“Me too buddy, me too,” Tony sighed. God, he missed Pepper. How did he fuck up so badly? He hated himself for what he did.

“Hand me the wrench Stark,” Ho asked. 

Ho was always listening, but he tried not to. It was hard for Ho, knowing that he lost his entire family despite being a good person. Yet here was a man, who had done so much harm on the world but he got to keep his son. But Ho knew that in the end, he was luckier his family was killed instantly. They didn’t have to see the torture. His son did not have to hide under a bed while the terrorists beat his father. His son didn’t have to eat stale bread and go to bed hungry. His son was brutally murdered, but it had been much less painful than what Peter was going through.

“Here,” Tony said absently as he handed the tool to Ho. Tony and Ho kept working in silence, the dim light barely illuminated their faces enough to see in front of them. Peter laid in bed watching them work, blinking the sleep from his eyes. 

Peter was almost asleep when the three heard the familiar click of the lock on the door. Peter peaked his eyes open to see Tony gesturing to go under the bed.

“Peter,” Tony warned, and Peter crawled down below excitedly thinking about the 5 points he would earn for following the rules.

Peter had crawled under the bed just in time, but he decided to keep his eyes open. Peter realized that all these times he had kept his eyes closed and had heard funny noises, but not once did he know why Ironman and funny doctor man were making them.

Peter heard the footsteps get closer until he could see the grimy shoes in front of the bed he was hiding under. 

“Progress?” One of the terrorists asked.

“We work as fast as we can,” Ho said.

The sound of the butt of a rifle hitting Ho’s head echoed throughout the room, but at Peter’s angle, he could not see what had happened so he was none the wiser.

“FASTER!” The terrorist demanded.

“They say patience is a virtue,” Tony snarked, much to the dismay of his captors. 

Just then, Peter saw the feet move. They moved past his bed, and Ironman had joined them. They moved to the corner of the room, and this time, Peter could see everything. 

Peter saw every blow. He saw the water poured over his hero’s face, only to be followed by another whack to the chest. Punch to the face. Kick to the groin. When the knife came out, Peter watched as the knife was dragged slowly across Ironman’s body. Peter saw the blood. But Peter noticed something. The only sound Ironman made was gasps and really quiet groans. Peter realized that if it was him, he would be screaming as loud as possible. Peter knew he would have cried. Why wasn’t Ironman crying?

Then Peter realized the truth. Ironman was a hero; he was stronger than anyone. He didn’t cry, because heroes are more amazing than anyone else Peter ever knew.

The terrorists kept going. They kept hurting Peter’s Ironman. And Peter watched all of it until the terrorists finally left. Peter watched Ho go over to Ironman. Peter watched the doctor stitch up Ironman and cover his boo-boos with a cloth. 

“You can come out now Pete,” Tony called out once Ho was done. Ironman was surprisingly chipper. Peter was confused, he did not understand. How could Ironman sound so happy after the mean guys hurt him so much?

Peter crawled out from under the bed and looked up to see Ironman watching him. Peter did not need to be told; he knew Ironman needed a hug. Peter ran over to his hero and jumped into his arms. Peter hugged him as hard as he could, trying to take away any lingering pain he had just witnessed. 

Tony wrapped his arms around his boy. Tony loved the empathy Peter had, and that Peter could always read a room and knew what was needed. Peter definitely didn’t inherit that from him. And what Tony needed, what he would always need, was his son to be safe in his arms.

“It’s late, you ready for bed?” Tony asked, breaking the silence but not breaking the hug.

Peter just nodded, and Tony lifted him up, carried him to the bed, and laid him down gently. When Peter made grabby hands, Tony could not deny his son and crawled into bed next to Peter. Peter cuddled into his hero, seeking the warmth and comfort he could always provide.

Just when Tony thought Peter had finally fallen asleep, he heard Peter shift.

“How many poin’s I have?” Peter whispered into the darkness.

“I think…” Tony paused. “3000.”

“Wow,” Peter said, his eyes big and full of amazement.

“Yup,” Tony sighed, brushing his son’s hair and hugging him closer.

“Guess wha?” Peter asked wiggling in his hero's arms.

“What?” Tony asked to humor his son.

“I lub you dat much.” Peter said confidently.

“What do you mean?” Tony asked.

“I lub you 3000,” Peter said as he nestled into Ironman’s chest. Tony smiled for the first time they entered the cave.

“Wow,” Tony trailed off. “3000, that’s crazy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love May <3
> 
> I know Morgan says I love you 3000, well aware. But I'm sorry/not really sorry, I thought it was cute and we needed some cuteness in this darkness.


	12. Goodbyes and Hellos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I am so sorry for the delay, I recently got a dog and have been super busy with that, but I hope you enjoy it!

“A press conference? Really?” Pepper asked, folding her arms.

“It’s our only option,” Rhodey explained. “We haven’t gotten any demands from Loki, and we need the people to back us up.”

“The last thing I want is for the entire world to know about Peter and how he’s connected to all of this,” Pepper argued. Her worst fear was the entire world associating her son to the mob. Getting the ‘people’ to sympathize with her as a distraught mother wasn’t necessarily a priority for her. 

“I agree with Pepper,” May added, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to reveal Peter’s identity to the world.”

“We would rather not have to, but how else will we force Loki to act?” Nat asked.

“Show up in Loki’s territory and demand my son back.” Pepper stated as if it was completely logical.

“Loki is a trickster and now that he’s leading the Chitauri we know he had to be ruthless to get there. He doesn’t follow the old rules. He’ll kill you and won’t hesitate to kill Peter.” Rhodey explained.

The old rules. Pepper rolled her eyes. Pepper had learned a lot in the past month about how the mob operated. How wives and children should be left out of business. The fact that mobs swore to never entangle their woman and children should be reassuring. But Pepper rationalized if that was the case, she wouldn’t have been forced back into this world, and Peter would never have been taken in the first place. So much for following the old rules.

“I’m not a mobster! Loki has no reason to target me, I’m just looking for my son!” Pepper exclaimed.

“If you show desperation, he will take advantage of that.” Rhodey justified. 

“I’m not desperate, I’m just ready to cut Loki’s head off for involving my son.”

“Like that will help find Tony and Peter. Let’s just have a press conference, gain sympathy from civilians and other mobs who follow the old rules, and Loki will be pressured to return your son.” Rhodey explained.

“No.”

“Pepper,” Nat warned, “it’s our best chance.”

Pepper grumbled. She didn’t like this at all.

“Fine. But I want to do the talking.”

“I’ll write the script and we can hold a press conference in a week.” Rhodey sighed a breath of relief. Hopefully, this would end soon.

As Rhodey and Nat walked away, May turned to Pepper.

“Don’t tell me you’ll be their obedient puppet right?” May begged quietly, thinking Rhodey and Nat wouldn’t hear.

But Rhodey heard. And it made his blood boil.

\--

Tony woke up to the sound of sniffling. It was light. Quiet. As if this person didn’t want anyone to know their misery. And for a second, he didn’t know if it was Ho or Peter. But when he rolled over to look at his son tucked in next to him, he could see the stream of tears down his son’s face. Peter’s eyes were closed, and it looked like he was squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as possible as if he was trying to stop any more tears from falling. 

Tony reached out and brushed his face gently. At the touch of the callused fingers, Peter opened his eyes. Just looking into Peter’s eyes, Tony could see the pain and sadness swirled in his teary eyes.

“Mommy,” Peter choked out, his voice shaky.

“I know I miss her too,” Tony agreed, stroking away the tear falling down Peter’s face.

“I wan’ mommy,” Peter cried a little louder this time.

“Shh, shhh, shhh,” Tony soothed, gently brushing Peter’s soft curls and pulled him in closer. “We both do. But for now, go to sleep and you’ll earn 10 points. We are one day closer to seeing mommy.”

“Wen?” Peter asked, leaning into the touch and curling into his father’s arms.

“Soon,” Tony said.

Tony could only hope.

And as he watched Peter fall back asleep, Tony began thinking. What if they never made it out of here? What if their plan didn’t work? Or what if, Tony managed to save Peter but sacrifices himself in the process?

These thoughts swirled in his head as he watched his son’s small chest rise and fall with each breath. He thought and thought and thought, but the more he thought, the more he realized he wished he could apologize to Pepper. He wished he could tell her how sorry he was, and how much he loved her. But he couldn’t. 

Or could he?

\--  
“Just stick to the script, and we will have Peter home in no time,” Rhodey comforted Pepper outside the press room at Stark Tower, where hundreds of reporters were waiting.

Nat glared at Rhodey, her eyes warning him to not make promises he couldn’t keep.

“The script isn’t going to get Peter home, we need to say more,” May pointed out, much to Rhodey’s annoyance. But Nat ignored it.

“You can do this,” Nat called out to Pepper as she walked in the doors. “Rhodey will introduce you and we will be beside you the whole time.”

Pepper took a deep breath and opened the door confidently. She was greeted by the white light of cameras flashing and the reporters yelling. She almost froze. Almost. The only thing that kept her going was Peter. The hope that this press conference was all that kept her going forward.

The sound of her name being called over and over again became white noise as she walked towards the podium. She glanced out to the crowd; her eyes glazed over the frenzy. She barely registered that Rhodey introduced her, and suddenly she was ushered to the podium to begin speaking.

Nat nudged Pepper, breaking Pepper from her trance. Pepper glanced down at her cards and began speaking

“Thank you Rhodey and good afternoon, thank you for being here.” She said shakily but was immediately interrupted.

“Mrs. Stark, is it true Tony Stark was kidnapped by Loki and the Chitarui?” A reporter screamed. 

“Hold your questions until the end!” Rhodey scolded firmly. 

“By now many of you have heard the rumors that Tony is missing,” Pepper continued. “It is true… Tony was kidnapped by Loki 2 months ago.”

The reporters began murmuring, the wave of sound gently washing over the room.

Pepper kept going

“Loki kidnapped Tony. But Loki also kidnapped…” Pepper took a deep breath. “Our son. Peter.”

The reporters and the cameras erupted. The tsunami of noise and light drowning out the room.

“You have a son?!?!”

“How old is Peter?”

“Why did you both hide the pregnancy and the birth of your child?”

“Is Peter inheriting the Stark empire?”

The questions kept coming and coming, preventing Pepper from continuing. Rhodey tried to control the reporters and get them to settle down, but the longer it went on, the more outrageous the questions got.

“Is Peter a secret love child with one of Tony’s former flings?”

“Is the reason you kept your son a secret because something is wrong with him?”

“What is wrong with you? Why would you bring a child into the mob? That’s too dangerous.”

“SHUT UP!!” Pepper screeched, and the room fell silent.

“All you care about is your stupid dramatic headline! You reporters are so thickheaded that you’d rather write a story about a secret love child or make up some other bullshit story than tell the truth! What don’t you get about the fact that my child was kidnapped and that all I want is for my son to come home safely?”

Rhodey and Nat spared a glance at one another. Pepper was going off script, and there was no way they would be able to stop her.

Rhodey immediately blamed May’s influence.

“Mrs. Stark, why was your son kept a secret?” A reporter called out.

“Because he deserves to have a normal safe childhood, and Loki and the rest of his family of thugs decided a child’s life isn’t sacred, that they could just pull an innocent kid into this mess.”

“Mrs. Stark, if you could send Loki a message right now, what would you say?” Another reporter asked loudly enough for Pepper to hear over the sea of other questions.

“You’ll never live another day without regretting breaking the old rules. I am coming for you. And when I find my son, you will regret everything you did to me and my family.”

Rhodey rushed forward to take Pepper’s spot at the podium, and Nat grabbed Pepper’s arm and began pulling her towards the exit. Once the two women were outside the conference room, Nat exploded.

“Why didn’t you stick to the script?” Nat asked, clearly frustrated.

“Nat, did you not hear the questions they asked? They were offensive!”

“Do you realize how aggressive you came off?”

“I don’t care! I meant what I said.” 

“So you plan on going after Loki? That is a horrible idea.” Nat shook her head in anger.

“It’s been two months and we’ve got nothing. Nothing!”

The door slammed, and Rhodey stomped forward.

“What the hell was that? Do you know how bad that makes us look?” Rhodey demanded.

“They asked me if Peter had issues and if he was a secret love child! They tried to distract from the real story, which is exactly what Loki would want.”

“Well, now you threatened Loki and the Chitarui. You’re going to put us at a war with them.”

“Aren’t we already in a war? In case you forgot, Loki kidnapped Tony and my son!” Pepper argued.

“No blood has been shed. Yet. Your stunt may have started it.” Rhodey warned.

“I am finding my son, and getting Loki to make a move is the only way for us to be able to find my baby.”

“You’re not meeting with Loki,” Rhodey stated.

“Why the hell not?”

“You think Tony would ever want to put you in that kind of danger? Loki is insane, he’s a trickster, and we have no idea what he is planning.”

“Well, I am going to find him. And I will find my son.”

“I can’t do that. I know Tony would want you to be safe above all else.”

“I can’t be safe without Peter.”

“You want to test me?” Rhodey asked, getting angrier and angrier. “Fine.”

“Why are you arguing with me on this? Don’t you want to find Tony too?”

“I do, but I know him. He would rather keep you safe than risk letting you try and save him. And as his number two, he would want me to make sure you were safe. I know what the problem is.”

“What?” Pepper asked, taken aback. She was confused. What was the problem? What was Rhodey talking about?

“Nat?” Rhodey turned his attention away from Pepper.

“Yes?”

“Make arrangements to send May Parker away. She has caused more problems than I anticipated.”

“What no! You can’t do that.” Pepper screamed.

“I’m sorry, but it’s for your own good,” Rhodey explained.

“No! You can’t! How can you say it’s for my own good! She’s the only one who has actually been there for me.” Pepper cried, the fear of losing her friend all over again coursed through her veins.

“She’s encouraged you from the day we brought her to the tower to take these kinds of risks. She enables you and we can’t have that. It is safer for you if we send her away.”

“Fuck you! You have no right to do that!” Pepper screamed, the anger boiling over.

But Rhodey ignored her pleas.

“Arrange it,” He said, storming off.

Pepper turned to Nat, her eyes imploring and begging for help.

“Please don’t do this.”

“With Tony missing right now, he’s the boss. If I don’t follow him, I lose my ranking.”

“Nat please, after everything-“

But Nat cut her off before Pepper had to go any further.

“Listen, I have to arrange it, but I will tell you everything. We can keep it a secret. You’ll always know where she is, and I can give you both a burner phone with each other’s contact in case needed.”

“I just don’t want to lose another person.”

“You won’t. You’ll still have her if you need her. But listen, only contact her for emergencies.”

“Is there any other way?” Pepper begged.

“Unless you want me to be replaced with someone else…” Nat trailed off.

Pepper sighed. She knew what that would mean. She would have someone new to tail her every move. Someone much less understanding than Nat. Someone who would be completely loyal to the Stark family. Someone who would care less about what Pepper wanted as long as they fulfilled every demand of the boss.

“Fine but I want everything. Address. Phone. Email. Pager. Literally everything so I never lose May again.”

“Deal.”

“No one can know,” Pepper added.

“Done.”

\--

“Ho?” Tony called out.

It was midday. Or at least he thought it was. Without windows, he couldn’t really tell. But they were all up. Peter was playing with scrap metal while Ho and Tony had been working on the ‘suit,’ but they were really working on the pod to send Peter home. The Ten Rings had checked on them a couple of hours ago, and by Tony’s calculation, it would be another 3 hours before they returned.

“I am listening.”

“Do you have paper and a pen?”

“Hm?” Ho looked up from the pod. “You need paper and pen? That’s not the kind of technology I would picture you using Stark.”

“To store a message in the pod would take extra time. And space. We don’t have that flexibility, which is why I am asking for a pen and paper so I can write something down.”

“We are installing the coordinates into the body of the pod. Surely you aren’t planning on writing that down?” Ho asked.

“No,” Tony sighed.

“Then what? You wish to write a letter?”

“It’s my only option. If I could, I would store a hologram in the pod and project my message, but we don’t have the materials or time to build that. And I don’t picture the terrorists forking over excess materials without questions.”

“They do ask questions.”

“And I’d like to avoid as much waterboarding as possible.”

“Easier said than done with these people.”

“Common don’t you have something? I peg you for a guy that always carries a journal.”

“You’re lucky that I do.”

“So –“ Tony started, but before he could finish, they heard the familiar click of the door opening.

They spared each other a glance, and Ho immediately began hiding the pod in the well-designed compartment in the suit. It blended into the body of the suit, looking as if it was the chest cavity. Tony was quick to usher Peter to hide under the bed. When Tony turned around, the men were glaring at him.

“Update.” The terrorist said.

“We are working as fast as we can,” Ho complained.

“You finish by August 11th,” The terrorist explained.

“You know time is a social construct, especially here. Hasn’t anyone told you how to be a gracious host and be patient with your guests?” Tony sarcastically said.

It earned Tony a smack across the jaw.

“It is July 31st.”

“There’s no way we can finish in less than two weeks!” Ho exclaimed.  
It earned Ho a punch in the gut.

“You will,” the terrorist stated. “Or we kill the boy you hide.”

Tony’s eyes widened. There was no way they could finish at the rate they were going. They would have to work constantly to finish, and there was no guarantee that they would. And he couldn’t rush in case they made a mistake. If they did, Peter could die anyways.

Tony was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the terrorists left. He only looked up when he heard Ho call his name for the 3rd time.

“Stark, the clock is ticking.”

Tony nodded.

“So you’ll lend me a pen and paper?”

“Sure Stark, if we can finish it in time, why not.”

\--

“May,” Pepper cried, pulling May into a hug for what felt like the millionth time.

They stood in the lobby of the Tower, with Happy and Nat off in the corner watching from a distance. Pepper shooed them away, begging for a minute with her closest and most trusted friend. Rhodey knew better than to show up. Pepper was pissed at him and hadn’t spoken to him since the day he announced May was leaving.

“I’m going to miss you so much too,” May cried into Pepper’s arm.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Pepper admitted into May’s soft hair as May rubbed her back.

“I wish that too, but I have to think of the positives,” May argued weakly.

“Like?” Pepper asked skeptically.

“I get away from the hustle and bustle of New York,” May admitted, then dropped her voice. “Chattanooga will be a nice change I think.”

“It’s Tennessee,” Pepper whispered with concern, keeping the conversation as quiet as possible so that no one, not even the AI would pick up on anything they said.

“It won’t be that bad, it’ll be scenic.”

“It still can snow there.”

“I like snow,” May argued.

“it’s no New York.” Pepper reasoned.

“No, but you know where I will be. If you ever need me…”

“I will come find you. I’ll always be able to find you,” Pepper promised and pulled back from the hug as Nat and Happy approached. Already, she felt the warmth of May’s arms around her being replaced by the cold air of the lobby’s strong air conditioning.

“Your bus leaves in 20. I’ll drive you to Port Authority.” Happy offered, and May smiled.

“Thanks, Happy,” May acknowledged, then turned back to her friend. “You’ll find Peter. I know you will.”

Pepper nodded. She had work to do.

\--

“I’nman!” Peter cried out. It was bedtime, but I’nman wasn’t coming to snuggle with him.

“Sorry Pete, we have lots of work to do.” Tony said. They were so close. For the past 9 days, they had stayed up and worked as fast as possible. And they were almost done. 

“I’nman pwease.”

“Peter, your father and I are very busy,” Ho interjected.

“If you go to sleep now I’ll give you 100 points.”

“Noooooo,” Peter wined. He didn’t want points anymore. He realized the points were getting him nothing. All he wanted was his mommy and I’nman.

“Peter, I wish I could but we can’t stop working.”

“I hwelp,” Peter said, kicking the covers off. That got Tony to move. 

Tony rushed over to stop Peter from jumping out of the bed and quickly grabbed his ankles. Peter giggled and tried to kick his feet, but Tony tickled his sides while pulling the covers back over Peter. The tickling only managed to get Peter to burst out laughing uncontrollably and Tony watched fondly. He knelt down next to the bed as his son caught his breath.

“Why you wushing?” Peter asked.

“We only have a few more days here okay? It’s like the sprint to the finish line.”

“Den we see mommy?”

“Yup, you’ll see mommy,” Tony explained, popping the p. He left out the part that Peter would be traveling solo in the pod and that Tony may never get rescued. While he felt bad for hiding that undeniable truth, Tony didn’t want to scare his son.

But Peter was smart.

“Wha’ ‘bout you?” Peter asked.

“What about me?” Tony asked, hoping to divert Peter.

“You come?” Peter asked.

“Pete,” Tony sighed and brushed Peter’s hair off his forehead. “You’re going to go first, but the Avengers will come back for me.”

“Weally?” Peter asked.

“The pod we are building has the GPS coordinates of where we are right now. Once you land back at home, the Avengers will be able to fly out on my Quintjet and save me and Ho… Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Ummm,” Peter thought but didn’t get why I’nman couldn’t come with him. “No.”

Tony sighed. Understandably.

“That’s okay kiddo, just go to sleep,” Tony whispered and leaned over to kiss Peter’s forehead who promptly yawned. “Love you 3000.”

“Lub you thwee-t’ousand,” Peter whispered back his eyes slipping closed.

Tony knelt next to him for a few more minutes, enjoying the serenity in this dark cave.

“Stark, we have work to do,”

“Yea, yea, I know,” Tony said sighing.

“We have just two days until the men said they would come to kill him.” Ho reminded.

“Right,” Tony stood and walked over to the workbench. “Wait so tomorrow is August 10th?”

“Yes, why the sudden interest?” Ho asked.

“August 10th is Peter’s birthday. He’ll be two.”

“And?” Ho asked rhetorically. It wasn’t like they could celebrate with a birthday cake and a party.

“Yea, I guess you are right.”

“Let’s work through the night. We can give him a birthday present in the morning. The pod. And send him home” Ho explained.

“Let’s get to work,” Tony agreed.

And they did.

At one point, Tony looked back at his son fast asleep. He realized by now it had to be past midnight, so his son was two. Two years old. He turned back to his workstation and looked at the blank paper Ho had given him earlier this morning. When he accepted it, he wasn’t sure what to write.

But now, he knew what he wanted to say.

\--

Pepper woke up, absolutely miserable. 

Today was Peter’s birthday. He was two. He should be here in her arms. She should be able to hug him and kiss him and sing him happy birthday. But she couldn’t. It destroyed her.

Pepper rolled over in bed. She didn’t even have May to talk to without compromising their secret contact information. She looked out the window, off into space, her mind completely blank, when her phone ringed.

Pepper watched the phone buzz. She knew it wouldn’t be May. May wouldn’t risk losing the ability to be able to contact her over a birthday they couldn’t celebrate. No matter how much it crushed the both of them. It had to be someone else.

Pepper picked up the phone and examined the number. An unknown New York number. She was confused but she picked up.

“Hello?” Pepper asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

“I quite liked the press conference,” An unfamiliar voice answered.

“Who is this?” Pepper demanded, unsure of who she was talking to.

“Hmmm,” the voice dragged out, “I would think you would know who this is. After all, you were the one who wanted to talk.”

“Loki,” Pepper stated.

“Well done dear.”

Pepper growled into the phone.

“Now now, let’s play nice for a bit.”

“You took my son. I have no plans on playing nice.”

“Your son isn’t what I was after.”

“You want power I get it. My child has nothing to do with what you want.”

“Hurts doesn’t it? Being lied to.” Loki asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“Peter has everything to do with the power I want. You are delusional to think your boy won’t inherit the Stark empire one day. Whatever Stark told you is a lie.”

“He won’t…”

“Because Stark promised? He promised he wouldn’t bring work home, that Peter would stay out of it?”

Pepper didn’t respond, giving Loki the green light to continue his rant.

“He has every intention of handing his work down to his son. That’s how it has worked and always will work in our world.”

“Peter isn’t a part of your world.”

“Oh, but he is. And so are you. You might think you aren’t, but you are. You might try to run, but you’ll never be able to escape it.”

“Give me my son and you’ll see. We will leave.”

“Ah ah, but then the day Peter grows up and finds he is the rightful heir to the Stark empire, he will come and try to fight me. Honestly, I am doing you a favor.”

“Peter’s not like that.”

“The boy is a product of his father.”

“No, Peter is different. He is better than all of this. If he has a chance to have a normal life, to be a good person, he won’t want anything to do with this mess.”

“I beg to differ. He will grow and the blood in his veins will drive him towards the mob, not away.”

“You’re wrong.”

“You know, I called to thank you for the press conference. I thoroughly enjoyed watching.”

“I’m coming for you. And so are the rest of us. Other mobs are aligning with us, and we are all looking for you.”

“So what you’ll kill me? Evidently, there will be a line.” Loki teased. 

“I won’t kill you.”

“Right you’ll have others do that for you. You play the part of an innocent, perfect, and sweet housewife, but really, you’re no better than the rest of the Starks. You have just as many secrets. And you’ve hurt those around you by keeping them. You play dirty, you’re only playing the sympathy card in order to ruin my plans.”

“So it’s working?” Pepper called him out, much to Loki’s annoyance.

“All I know is it is your son’s birthday. I’ll make sure he celebrates his birthday in style.” Loki tormented.

“I swear to god…”

But the line went dead.  
\--

“Peter,” Tony sang, shaking the boy lightly to wake him up.

“Peter,” Tony repeated.

Peter groaned and rolled over. It was much earlier than he usually woke up.

“Common Peter, wake up, it’s your birthday.” Tony teased, and Peter peaked his eyes open.

“Birfday?” Peter asked.

“Happy birthday Pete,” Tony said softly.

“Weally?”

“Yes, ‘weally’,” Tony said, mimicking Peter’s childish voice.

“Tanks,” Peter acknowledged, getting out of bed.

“Ho and I got you a present,” Tony stated.

“Yes, your father and I have finished building your pod early,” Ho explained. They stayed up all night. And they figured it out. Ahead of schedule. 

“O,” Peter said. Peter realized what that meant. That meant he would be separated from his hero. His Ironman. The nervousness in Peter’s chest began bubbling up, and he grabbed Ironman’s hand for support. 

“Common over Peter, let’s get ready,” Tony called out, holding out his hand. Peter tentatively took it, scared of what the future held.

Ho and Tony worked quickly to get the pod situated. It would be able to blast through the door once the terrorists left after dropping off their morning meal. After a few minutes, they would send the pod out. And hopefully, that would buy them enough time to wait for the Avengers to come to rescue them.

So they waited. They waited and waited until the door opened and food was dropped on the ground with a clang. 

After a minute passed to ensure the terrorists would be far enough away, Ho turned to Tony.

“It is time,” Ho stated.

Tony took a shaky breath and turned to look down at Peter. Peter was already looking up at him. The second they made eye contact, Tony could feel his own eyes beginning to water.

“Wha? Why you cwying? I’nman no cry. I’nman hero, an’ heroes neva cwy cause dey stwong” Peter asked confused.

“Heroes do cry, Pete. Heroes cry because they are strong. And guess what?” Tony said, holding back the tears.

“Wha?”

“You’re a superhero because you’re going to save us.”

“Weally?” Peter asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Absolutely. When you get home you tell the Avengers to open this,” Tony gestured to the panel inside the pod that showed their precise location on a map. “And when you see mommy, you give her this note for me, got it?”

Tony handed the letter to Peter. He picked up his son, and put him in the seat of the pod, and buckled a crying Peter in. 

“I love you 3000,” Tony said.

“I lub you 3000 daddy,” Peter cried out, reaching his arms out to his father. 

Tony’s eyes widened at being called daddy. All this time he hadn’t heard that precious name. In all honesty, Tony didn’t think he ever would hear it. It was the greatest gift, and all he could do was let the tears quietly stream down his face.

Tony gave his baby one last kiss on the forehead. He tried not to waste any time, but it was hard not to when Tony knew this could very well be the last time they ever saw each other.

Tony closed the door to the pod. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Ready?” Ho asked.

Tony could only nod.

Tony hoped that Peter wasn’t scared. Tony hoped Peter would be brave and make it back safely into Pepper’s arms. Tony hoped that this wasn’t goodbye, but he realized he could accept death as long as Peter made it home.

As long as Peter was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's so much to unpack in this chapter I hope it wasn't too much too quickly
> 
> was it worth the wait to hear Tony being called dad? I hope so. 
> 
> Also what do you think is in the letter to Pepper? Any ideas or thoughts on what he should say?


End file.
